


cosmic dust

by discordiansamba



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-04-08 13:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 176,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14106288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discordiansamba/pseuds/discordiansamba
Summary: When her brother and father disappear without a trace during the Kerberos mission, Pidge sets out to find them. What she finds instead is an escaped half-alien fugitive, running from the same empire her family's been taken by. Convincing him to take her to space with him is the first step, and from there, well... as they say, when you look for trouble, it tends to find you.





	1. first contact

**Author's Note:**

> Also known as that one AU where Keith and Pidge dick around in space, become space pirates, and get into way more trouble than they bargained for (and they bargained for like, a lot of trouble). This is an idea that I've been tinkering with for awhile, and it's taken on a few forms before this, but this is more or less the final idea that I've settled on. Other characters will appear! Matt and Allura will be chief among them, but eventually the whole gang will be here, so that's something to look forward to.
> 
> Keith and Pidge make for the best kind of terrible combination and I just wanted to write about them together, and all the explosive (literally) consequences that might entail. Especially when you put them in space and leave Keith in charge of like, ninety percent of the decisions as to their next move.

Five months prior, her father and brother had gone into space, and never returned.

They'd been declared dead- a crash, they'd said- but she never could believe it. Couldn't- _wouldn't_ \- accept it. So she did what anyone else would have done in her situation- she went looking for answers.

The Garrison's story, that it was pilot error that lead to a crash, just didn't add up. If there was a crash, where was the debris? She couldn't find a trace, anywhere on Kerberos, no matter how many probe feeds she hacked into. She'd even broken into the Garrison in an effort to find answers, but all that had resulted in was her being tossed out on her rear, with a promise that she'd be charged for _treason_ if she did that again.

She had suspected it, strongly, long before then, but it was then that she knew for _sure_ that her family was at the center of some kind of cover up.

It wasn't until she reviewed some of the footage from around the time of their mission, that she realized just what it was that was being covered up. The long, looming shadow of _something_ passing over one of the Garrison's probes- the last bit of footage it had sent before it had gone offline.

Her family had been _taken_.

In that moment, she had never been more afraid in her life.

Her father and brother were out there, somewhere, held captive by _something_ , and she had no way to get to them. For a brief second, she wished she could go back to believing they were dead- at least it would be far less terrifying than the looming threat of so many unknowns.

But it had only lasted a moment. Drawing in her breath, she steeled her shoulders. Maybe others in her position would have just given up. But she wasn't just _anyone_.

She was Katie Holt, and she was _not_ going to give up on her family.

So she did what she did best. She tinkered, she experimented, and always, she looked to the stars. When she picked up her first bit of clear alien radio chatter, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Sitting alone on top of the roof of her house, she clutched her jacket a little tighter around her shoulders, biting back the urge to cry.

It was the first step.

Just the first step out of many, but the first step nonetheless.

It took her a good year after that before she found anything with promise, and if she had to be honest, it was only because it had crash landed in her backyard.

Well, okay, not her _backyard_ , exactly. More like in the forest, but she could see it from her house, so it counted, right?

Whatever the case, the chatter had been going _crazy_ just before the crash. Against her better judgement, she sprung to her feet, tucking away her equipment and hurrying back into her room. Wasting no time in packing a bag, she flew out of the house before she could even think twice about what it was that she was doing.

 _Something_ had just crashed into the Earth, and like hell she wasn't going to go see what it was.

It wasn't until she had a knife pressed to her throat, and a pair of gleaming, golden eyes staring down at her, that she realized that this might _not_ have been her best idea ever. Her head was throbbing from where she'd hit it when she'd been unceremoniously thrown to the ground, and she could only hope it wasn't bleeding.

So this was how she was going to die. Held at knife point in the forest.

Until the alien- and it _must_ have been an alien, what else could it be _besides_ an alien- drew back, pulling the knife from her throat.

"Fuck," it said, in surprisingly plain- if not crude- English, "...you're just a kid."

"Fourteen." The words came out before she could stop herself, even as she drew in a shaky breath, heart still pounding in her chest. "I'm fourteen."

To her surprise, the alien let out a faint snort. "If you're protesting, it means you're definitely a kid."

Opening her mouth, she quickly shut it, realizing that there wasn't much she could say back to that. Instead, she watched as the alien sheathed his knife, the faint glow of it's hilt disappearing into the darkness.

"One hell of a first contact." She muttered underneath her breath, pressing a hand up against her throat. There was a thin line where the knife had been pressed up against it, but no actual blood. Raising a hand to check her head, she confirmed that there was nothing wrong with it, other than a stray leaf stuck in her locks.

"Sorry." Again, the alien took her by surprise- she hadn't expected an _apology_ , even if it was kind of a callous one. "I thought you were someone else."

"Oh." Blinking, she didn't know quite what to say to that. Who else could they have been expecting? The Galaxy Garrison? The government, maybe? "Glad I wasn't."

"You should be." The alien said, before offering her a hand. "What are you doing out here anyways? Isn't it kind of late to be wandering around in the forest?"

For a moment, she hesitated, uncertain if she should take it's hand. It _had_ basically just tried to kill her, which, honest mistake or not, was still very much a thing that had just happened. Frowning, she slowly reached out, placing her hand in that of the alien's, allowing it to haul her to her feet.

Her hand lingered for a moment longer, finding herself drawn in by it's hands. In the dim light provided by her penlight, she could just make out purple fingers, tapering off in claws. The purple color seemed to fade out at the base joint of his fingers, fading into a pale, far more human color.

"I'm pretty sure I should be asking _you_ that." She observed, pulling her hand away from it, making a show of dusting off her clothes. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Though his English was flawless, she couldn't help but note.

"Fair enough." The alien said, and even in the dark, she could have sworn that it looked strangely amused by her choice of words. "I _might_ be from out of town."

"How _far_ out of town?" She asked, arching a brow.

"A lot." The alien replied, rolling back it's shoulders with a shrug. Even it's body language was disarmingly human. If it weren't for the still glowing eyes, she might have allowed herself to think that she'd made some kind of mistake. "You got a name?"

"Pidge." It wasn't her real name, rather, it was the nickname her brother used for her. "It's Pidge. You got a name?"

"Keith."

A too human name, to go with a too human alien. Figures.

"So, _Keith_ ," Pidge said, testing out the name, wondering it was really his, or he'd picked it as some kind of alias. "...what brings you so far from out of town?"

"We're really going to keep this up, huh." Keith observed.

"You started it." Pidge pointed out.

"...fair." With a shrug of his shoulders, Keith folded his arms in front of his chest. "What are you going to do now that you've found me?"

"Me?" Pidge asked. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" The alien arched a brow- a glimmer of incredulity in those strange, pupilless eyes. She felt like she shouldn't be able to read them half as easily as she did- maybe it was just something about the face they were set in.

"Nothing." Pidge said simply. " _If_ you help me."

He seemed to consider this for a moment, before he merely inclined his head. "Depends on what you want."

She wanted her family back, that's what.

"Information." Pidge told him. "I want information."

* * *

They had struck an accord that night, her and the alien. He'd tell her what she wanted to know- _if_ he happened to know it- and she would keep silent about him.

 _Food_ had also been part of the bargain- as well as coming back during daylight hours. She was hesitant to leave at first, wondering if this was some kind of trick to get away from her. Until her eyes had fallen on the alien's knife, and she realized that if he wanted to do that, all he had to do was kill her and be done with it.

So, probably not a trick.

(Also, maybe this _still_ wasn't her best idea.)

She'd lied to her mother, telling her she was going to go to the library to study. She'd instead stuffed her pack with food, squeezing her laptop in, and then headed back into the forest, trying to remember where exactly she had run into him the previous night.

She didn't need to- Keith found her.

In the daylight, she could see fully what she had started to suspect the night before- that her alien wasn't nearly as alien as she'd first thought. Sure, he still had the golden eyes, no trace of a pupil in sight, but in the bright light of day, they didn't really glow as they had last night. His skin was predominately pale, closer to her own tone than anything otherworldly.

His teeth, razor sharp and clearly meant for tearing meat, were pretty hard to miss- as were the elongated, pointed purple ears. There were speckles of that same color in the gap between his ears and eyes, but the rest of him seemed fairly human. His hair was a deep black, and _long_ \- nearly as long as that of her own.

He was... younger than she had been expecting, too, especially since he'd called her a _kid_. Maybe sixteen, seventeen at best. She couldn't be sure. Maybe aging just worked differently for... well, for whatever alien race he was. She hadn't had a chance to ask.

He was unkempt, unruly, wearing tattered clothing that definitely looked like it had seen better days. Maybe she should bring him some clothes from Matt's room. That too large hoodie he had gotten at the mall a month before he'd left might fit.

("I'll grow into it," he'd told her.)

And that was saying nothing about the impressive bags underneath his otherwise inhuman eyes. It looked like he hadn't had a good sleep in... forever, just about.

"I'm _starving_ ," was the first thing out of his mouth, "...you bring anything good?"

"It's mostly snacks." She told him, setting down her backpack. Pulling out her laptop and setting it aside first, she then tossed the pack to Keith, who grabbed it, wasting no time in rooting around in it.

"Snacks are good." Keith said, producing a big of chips, popping it open and nearly devouring the contents of the package whole before he said anything else. "What's with the computer?"

So he knew what a laptop was. Why did that not surprise her?

"I told you I wanted some information, didn't I?" Pidge asked, cracking it open and claiming the spot next to him. She didn't quite miss the way that he tensed at it, nor the way that his breath came a little easier when she gave him a bit more space.

"You did." Keith noted, setting down the pack next to him, pulling out a bag of cookies next. "I did tell you that I'm not sure how much I can actually tell you, right?"

"Give me what you can." She told him, busying herself booting her laptop up. "My father and brother work for the Galaxy Garrison, you know."

Out of the corner of her eye, she didn't miss the way that Keith stilled.

"There was a mission, to Kerberos, just over a year ago." She continued, typing away. "They never came back."

"The Garrison said it was a crash, but," bringing up the video feed that she must have studied a hundred times now, she turned her laptop so that Keith could get a better view of it, "... _that_ doesn't look like a crash."

There was recognition that sparked in those golden eyes, and something beyond that- anger, fear, hatred- maybe all three. She couldn't be certain. Suddenly those strange eyes that were too easy for her to read became impossible to, and she found herself sharply reminded that the person next to her wasn't human.

" _Zarkon_."

He'd _snarled_ the word, his voice dropping into a range that no human could ever hope to reproduce.

"Zarkon?" Her voice dropping to a whisper, she drew in her breath, steadying herself. "Is that... is that what they're called?"

"No. It's-" Keith began, only to quickly shut his mouth, looking away from her- almost as if he _couldn't_ look at her. "He's their leader. That's a Galra warship."

"Galra?" Pidge asked, her brows furrowing, trying not to dwell on the word _warship_ too much. "How much do you know about these Galra?"

His gaze was now fixed on the ground, as if it were the most interesting thing in the world- or maybe he just wanted to look anywhere that wasn't her eyes. " _I'm_ Galra."

Pidge felt herself tense, a cold grip of fear budding in the back of her mind- and then she exhaled, something clicking into place. "Back when you said you were expecting someone else- you're running _from_ them, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't use _running_ ," Keith almost seemed to bristle at the implications of the word, "...but yes."

"Did you... my father and brother, did you maybe-" Pidge asked, a hopeful note in her voice.

"I didn't meet any other humans." Keith told her, shaking his head. "Sorry."

Pidge felt her shoulders slump, but in her disappointment, she didn't miss the way he'd said it. Any _other_ humans. Brows furrowing, she half wanted to ask, but there was something in his expression that made her bite her tongue instead.

Keith was her _only_ lead right now, she didn't want to chase him away.

"Can I look at this?" Keith asked, motioning with a clawed hand towards her laptop.

Considering it for a moment, Pidge eventually inclined her head. "Just be careful. I built that myself, you know."

"Mm." Somehow, he didn't look all that surprised, accepting the laptop from her. He was careful, so careful, of his own claws. "That would explain the classified probe feed."

She got the impression he hadn't meant to say that out loud. How the hell did _he_ know the feed from the Garrison probes were supposed to be classified?

"I had to know." She told him, watching as the not-so-alien alien made his way through the information that she had collected, all about the Kerberos mission and it's crew. She didn't miss the way his breath hitched in his throat not long after he began looking, but when she tried to see what it was that he was looking at, he hurriedly clicked away.

His expression became completely unreadable after that.

* * *

The next time she came around, Keith had gotten proper clothes from somewhere. Judging from the way he averted his gaze when she asked about it, she was pretty sure they were stolen.

Which... to be fair, it wasn't exactly like he could just walk into a store and just buy some. He looked human, just not human _enough_.

Still, she found herself wondering if he'd had his pick of clothes, or if he'd just decided to take the cropped red jacket because he thought it was fashionable. Given that he'd also hacked off no small amount of his hair, leaving what remained of it to fall into a _mullet_ \- she was going to go for the latter.

(The eighties called, they want their fashion back, she thought dimly.)

He'd filed down his claws too. She didn't miss that.

He was true to his word- he didn't know much that could help her with her family. And what she had managed to learn from him was nothing comforting.

The Galra, as he had told her, were a warmongering race who had managed to conquer most of the known universe. She thought he was exaggerating at first, but something in his gaze told her that he was being completely serious. He was also being completely serious about the fact that it's ruler was a _ten thousand_ year old tyrant by the name of Zarkon- who had destroyed whole words in his lust for power.

Keith _despised_ them.

In turn, she sensed that he despised _himself_.

She didn't know what to say to that- feelings had never been her strong suit- so instead she let him busy himself in helping her. He seemed interested in doing so, at any rate. Finally someone who could actually _translate_ the countless hours of alien gibberish that she had recorded.

Not a lot of it was helpful. But some was.

There was a single Galran cruiser just at the edge of their system, beyond Kerberos. It had been the one to capture her family, but from what she had managed to glean, they were no longer there- nor was the pilot of the mission that had been captured with them. They had all been transferred to another ship, far beyond the bounds of what her scanner could pick up.

From there the lead went cold.

There was some chatter about a stolen ship, of no small importance to the empire- and from the way the edges of Keith's lips twitched in a grin, she suspected he had something to do with that.

Keith quickly proved himself to be... well, _awkward_ was a good word for it. He knew both too much and too little about human societal norms, making for an odd mix all around. Horrible first impressions aside, he... didn't seem so bad, for someone who supposedly came from a warmongering species.

Keith also kept many secrets. Some less well than others. It wasn't _exactly_ his forte.

She also learned that he was planning on leaving Earth, eventually.

It surprised her, for some reason. She didn't know why. She'd just assumed that he'd stay.

But it wasn't like he really _could_. He stuck out like a sore thumb.

That much was made clear when her mother found them together. She'd known that her mother was starting to get a bit suspicious of her frequent library trips, the excuse beginning to wear thin, but she hadn't expected that she'd _follow_ her.

She'd fainted. Whoops.

* * *

Keith had carried her back to the house. They hadn't had much choice- it wasn't like she was could do it.

They... kind of hadn't planned for Keith to still be there when her mother came to, but she had.

Keith had been the first one to notice her, one ear almost seeming to twitch at the sound of her coming to. He froze, breath hitching in his throat, a bubble of mild panic in his eyes.

"Uh," blinking, looking like a deer caught in headlights, Keith held up one hand, "I... come in peace?"

"Really?" Unable to help herself, Pidge turned back to face him. "That's the _best_ you could come up with?"

"Look, I panicked." Keith blurted out. "I didn't want her to faint again!"

Letting out a long sigh, Pidge instead turned towards her mother- who thank god, had in fact not fainted again. "Uh, mom?"

She was, however, having trouble forming words at the moment, unable to quite tear her gaze off of Keith- even as Keith very desperately tried to avoid meeting said gaze. "I... Katie, is that...?"

"Uh, right." Getting to her feet, Pidge gave her mother what she knew was the awkward smile to end all awkward smiles. How do you explain to your mother that you've been helping to hide an alien for the past few weeks? "Mom, this is Keith. He's from, uh... he's from out of town."

"Really?" Now it was _Keith's_ turn to sound incredulous, how dare he. "We're going back to _that_ again?"

"You got any better ideas, _space boy_?" Pidge demanded.

"Space-" Keith began, narrowing his eyes. "I'm _older_ than you!"

"Yeah, by like, a handful of years. Barely even counts." Pidge hissed back. "Anyways, mom, this is Keith, he's a _friend_ ," and, oh _that_ was an interesting reaction she'd gleaned from Keith with that word, "...so, uh, please don't call the Garrison or the police or the feds."

She was pretty sure she thought she heard Keith whisper ' _especially not all three, oh god_ '.

"Is this..." Her mother began- oh good, she was talking, that was encouraging, "...is this why you've started sneaking food out of the house?"

"Uh," wincing a little, Pidge gave her a small laugh, "...kind of?"

"In her defense, I did ask her to." Keith piped up. "So uh, sorry for stealing all of your snacks, I guess?"

"Keith's been helping me!" Pidge interjected. "You know, with looking for dad and Matt!"

Drawing a long breath, Colleen Holt looked at her daughter, then looked at Keith, then back at her daughter again. Heaving a long sigh, she squared her shoulders. "Katie?"

"Uh, yes mom?" Pidge asked, her heart skipping half a beat.

"How long has Keith been here?"

Reasonable question, okay.

"For about like, two weeks, I guess?" Pidge asked.

And now, apparently, it was her mother's turn to sound incredulous. "He's been here two weeks, and you've been feeding him nothing but snacks."

"Wait," squinting, Pidge held up her hands, "... _that's_ what you're taking issue with here?"

"He's skin and bones, Katie, of course I'm going to take issue with it." Planting her hands firmly on her hips, Colleen narrowed her eyes. Pidge... couldn't exactly say that she was wrong- Keith was on the skinny side, but she'd just kind of assumed that was natural. "Now for the love of god, help me make your space friend an actual decent meal for a change."

With that, her mother turned on her heel, making her way to the kitchen.

"Uh," Keith began, "...did your mother just invite me over for dinner?"

"I... think so?"

* * *

The invitation to dinner had translated into 'stay here with us' once her mother learned that Keith had been living in the middle of the forest.

Keith had tried to protest- he really had- but her mother wasn't having any of it. Sensing it better to resign himself to accept her hospitality, he simply gave in.

In the back of her mind, she knew that her mother was doing it in part to distract herself. She had buried herself in distractions ever since the news had broke.

With the new information that her husband and son were now likely in the hands of an evil alien empire, it only made sense that she would do it now more than ever. They'd told her- they kind of had to. Now that it had gotten to this point, they couldn't exactly leave her in the dark.

And it... seemed to help. It did, really.

And not just her mom, either.

It showed just how unused to being cared for _Keith_ was- the longer he spent around the house, the more she got the impression that he hadn't had access to three square meals a day for a long time. He didn't talk about it- the most that anyone could get out of him was that he had been held captive ' _for awhile_ ', which seemed like an understatement if she'd ever seen one.

He still seemed to be set on leaving, though.

And she'd made up her mind.

She was going too.

She'd discussed it with her mother, of course she had. At first, she'd adamantly refused her- but once she saw the determination in her small frame, she'd reluctantly relented. With conditions, of course- chief among them that she would contact her as often as possible. It might not be easy, but she'd find a way.

Now she just had to talk to _Keith_ about it.

She'd found him curled up on the roof outside, his gaze fixed skyward, tracking the stars. From the look of his damp hair (which she'd since learned was actually more fur-like in consistency than anything else), he'd just gotten out of a shower- given his over indulgence of them, it seemed they were something that he'd gone without for quite some time as well.

He heard her coming, one of his ears twitching in her general direction. Turning his head, Keith's glowing eyes made him all the easier to spot. He was a little less on the skin and bones side than he had been before, but not by much- and apparently having a real bed to sleep in had done _nothing_ for the bags under his eyes.

She was starting to half suspect that Keith just plain didn't sleep.

"I'm coming with you."

The words took him by surprise, clearly.

"I... you're what?" Keith asked, peering at her as if this would somehow enlighten him as to what she meant.

"I'm coming with you." Pidge repeated. "To space."

"I-" Opening and closing his mouth, Keith sprung to his feet, with the kind of grace that she honestly found herself envying. " _No_."

"It's either you take me with you, or I find a way to get up there myself." Narrowing her eyes, she held his gaze. "Take your pick."

Silence.

"...the worst part is, I honestly believe you when you say that." Keith finally said, heaving a long sigh. Running a hand through his hair, he shifted on his heel, carefully studying her. "You don't have to do this. If it's about your family, I could-"

"No." Cutting him off, she shook her head. "I _need_ to do this, Keith."

"But your mother-" Keith began.

"I already spoke to her." Pidge told him. "She understands."

"Understands?" Keith asked, taking a step forward. "Understands what, exactly? That she's going to let her daughter go into space with some alien she barely knows?"

"I know you're not half the alien you claim you are." Pidge retorted, clearly catching him off guard with that- to which she could only roll her eyes. "Oh please. Your name is _Keith_ , and the first thing you said to me was _fuck_. I'm not stupid."

"And look, I won't ask about it." She told him. "It's clear you don't want to talk about it, so I won't push you to, but... I need to go with you, Keith. I can't just stay here knowing that my family is out there somewhere, held prisoner."

"I tried to kill you when we first met." Keith reminded her, clearly outright choosing to ignore everything that she had just said. "In case you forgot."

"Well, you didn't." She told him, letting out a long sigh. "Keith, I _have_ to find them. You're my only chance."

For another long moment, there was nothing but silence between the two- before Keith's shoulders slumped. Running a hand through his hair again, he opened, then closed his mouth, before finally shaking his head.

"It's not... it's not pretty out there."

"I gathered that much." Pidge told him. "I'm prepared."

"I _might_ have a bounty on my head?" Keith ventured.

"This does not surprise me in any way." She told him.

"...absolutely nothing I say is going to convince you, is it?" Keith asked flatly.

"Now you're starting to get it."

Letting out a load groan, Keith threw his hands up in the air. "Alright, _fine_. If that's how you want to do this, I guess it doesn't really matter what I say."

"No it does not." She said. "So," folding her hands behind her back, an impish grin on her face, "...when should I start packing?"

* * *

When it came to alien spaceships, she had all kinds of ideas as to what they might look like. Enough to fill a book.

 _Giant robotic red lion_ had been none of them.

"So," her thoughts drifting back to some of those early translations, "...stolen from the empire?"

"To be fair," and Keith didn't even _try_ to keep the twinkle of amusement out of his eyes, that asshole, he'd been _expecting_ this, "...they stole it first."


	2. pirates and rebels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Besides, your mom would kill me if I let your bounty get to seven figures." Keith told her, before squinting. "Or like. Nine. Is my bounty up to nine figures now?"
> 
> "Try ten." Pidge told him, arching her brows. He seemed to fluctuate between feeling proud of his own bounty and regretting everything he had ever done to lead up to it- and right now, he seemed to be in the latter camp. "I'm pretty sure you're like... Zarkon's Most Wanted."
> 
> "Fantastic." Keith grumbled. "My life's goal, realized."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, back with the second chapter! Moving things right along here with a bit of a time skip, about seven months after the end of the first chapter. Pidge gets her first bounty... I'm so proud of her, she's doing so well. I didn't rewrite this chapter half as many times as I did the first chapter, always a good thing. As always, thanks for reading, and see you next update!

Keith's default, she soon learned, seemed to be stealing from the Galra.

She realized this when his first instinct upon realizing that they needed a ship that didn't stand out as much, one with actual living spaces, was to steal one from the Galra. When they were running low on credits, what better and faster way of earning money was there than to raid a Galra ship, then turn around and sell what they'd stolen on the black market? Galra tech was always in hot demand.

At this point, she was almost one hundred percent certain that he was doing it out of pure spite. It earned him both an enormous bounty- and a reputation. There was no shortage of people eager to make contact with them, hoping to do business with them one way or another- everything from freedom fighters to black market dealers. Apparently there weren't that many people out there crazy enough to steal from a ten thousand year old intergalactic empire.

Go figure.

The other thing she quickly learned was that stick around someone who has a bounty on their head long enough, and eventually, you'll pick up one of your own.

"Wow, you're cheap."

"Not all of us can start off with seven figure bounties, Keith." Glancing up at him, Pidge frowned. She'd been out in space with him for nearly seven months, and she still hadn't gotten used to the ease with which he could sneak up on her.

"Guess you're a full fledged space pirate now." Keith observed, ruffling her hair against her squawk of protest. "I've never felt more proud in my life."

"And you're a terrible influence on mine." She joked, leaning back in her chair. "So, ready for the meeting we've got set up with the freedom fighters?"

"Not we, _you_." Keith told her. "You know they don't want to deal with me."

She crinkled her nose at that- she did know. If there was one thing that she had become acutely, painfully aware of during her time in space, it was that _no one_ trusted the Galra. She couldn't deny that they had good reason for it- they'd destroyed worlds, crushed entire civilizations. But she would have thought that wouldn't have applied to ones like Keith, who were very clearly acting against the interests of the empire.

He didn't even _look_ all that Galra.

They were tall, purple, and by and large, fuzzy- and Keith... well, he was _sort of_ purple, in places- his ears, fingers, and no small amount of his legs. But mostly he just looked like her, the same pale tone of skin as she had. And sure, there were the yellow eyes, with their lack of pupil, but the Balmerans had eyes like that too, and nobody thought twice about them.

It all seemed so _unfair_ , but Keith always brushed it aside without so much as blinking. She couldn't tell if he was just used to it, or if he had just resigned himself to the idea that there was nothing he could do about it.

Or worse, if he _agreed_ with them.

"No, they actually asked for you to come this time." Pidge told him. "Said it was important."

"Must be, if they want to actually deal with me in person." He said, trying and failing to mask his own surprise. They'd hire him, sure, but not because they _trusted_ him. "And not my _liaison_. So?" Draping his arms over the back of her chair, he arched a brow. "What do they want?"

"They didn't go into too many specifics, but it sounds like they want us to steal something from a Galra ship." Glancing up, her lips twisted into a frown. "Whatever it is, it's bound to be risky."

"Since when is anything we do _not_?" He pointed out, shrugging his shoulders. "What are they offering in exchange?"

"Sizable amount of credits." Pidge observed, bringing up the transmission. "They already sent us a down payment."

She was hoping they'd be willing to part with some information while they were at it- namely, prisoner information. The only thing she'd managed to learn about her family was that her father was apparently in some kind of a work camp, though she had no idea where he might be beyond that.

She knew nothing about what had happened to Matt- or the mission's pilot, Takashi Shirogane, for that matter. Just that wherever they were, they'd all been separated from each other.

Letting out a low whistle at the amount, Keith pulled away from her chair. With the down payment alone, they wouldn't have to worry about money for awhile. "Wow, they must be _desperate_ for whatever this thing they want us to steal is."

"They want to meet us in person to discuss it." She told him. "I already plotted a course to the coordinates that they sent us. Looks like it's some kind of old, abandoned way station just off the moon of Hegrim. We should be there in a few hours. We can hide the ship in the shadow of the moon, and head down in Red."

"You should probably get some sleep, then." Keith observed. "I'll take over."

"You sure?" Glancing at him from around her chair, she couldn't help but frown. "Might be a trap."

Letting out a faint snort, Keith fought the urge to roll his eyes. "If it's a trap, all the better that _I'm_ the one in the pilot seat."

Musing over this for a moment, Pidge had to admit, he was right. He'd been teaching her to be a pilot, and though she could handle their ship well enough on a day to day basis, when it came to crunch time, there was no better pilot than Keith. He seemed to fly almost by pure instinct alone, as if he'd been born to do it.

"Eh, you've got a point." Getting up from her chair, she took the chance to stretch, letting the tension wash out of her shoulders. "Wake me when we're near."

She paused then, shooting him a dirty look.

"And I don't mean with the alarm system this time, asshole."

* * *

He didn't use the alarm system this time, thank god.

Rolling half out of bed, Pidge let out a loud yawn. However much sleep she had gotten, it didn't quite feel like enough- but she'd always been slow to wake up, and apparently being in space didn't change that.

Sliding all the way out of bed, she stretched herself out. She got the feeling that today would be one of those days where time just blurred together- it was always like that when a big job rolled in. There was no time for sleep once things swung into high gear, so it was best to just get her rest whenever she could.

She didn't know what Keith did. She'd never seen him sleep on Earth, nor had she seen him sleep while they were in space. He had his own quarters on the ship, but they felt more like a storage room than an actual place to sleep.

If the bags under his eyes were any indication, he didn't get nearly enough.

She'd worry more, but it never seemed to actually impair his ability to function, so she just decided to leave well enough alone. She got the feeling it was one of those things he just didn't want to talk about.

"Right. Okay." Shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, Pidge busied herself with getting ready. Running a few fingers through her hair- it was shorter now, she'd cut it the last time someone had nearly grabbed it while she was trying to make a quick escape- deciding that it was mostly presentable, she moved on, gathering up her supplies.

She'd built herself what would pass for a stun gun on Earth- except this one was more powerful than anything you could buy there. It needed to be, considering what she found herself fighting. Low level shocks weren't enough.

She'd a blaster too- a small, pocket size one. She'd built that one too, out of pure necessity. The standard size ones ran so large! Sure, maybe it packed less of a punch than them, but at least she could _carry_ this one, which was really all that mattered.

Besides, at least she wasn't charging into Galra ships armed with nothing but a _knife_ , like _some people_ she knew.

(Keith. It was Keith.)

The faint sound of a beep drew her attention to the small drone, hovering just above the little table she'd placed next to her bed. Matt's glasses were there- he'd given them to her before he'd left, and she'd kept them with her ever since. She'd been wearing them as a good luck charm, exchanging the lenses for simple glass.

"Sorry Rover," giving a rueful glance to her drone companion- she'd found it while searching the ship right after Keith had... well, _liberated_ it from it's previous owners, and had reprogrammed it to her purposes, "...I think you're going to have to sit this meeting out."

The drone almost seemed to let out a mournful chirp, one that nearly broke her heart.

Giving the drone a quick pat, she made her way towards the bridge. Keith was right where she'd left him, barely sparing her a glance as she took her place in the seat next to him.

"Trap?" Pidge asked.

"Doesn't look like it." Keith told her. "Course, we won't know for sure until we get there."

"What's the plan if it is?" She asked.

"Same as always." Keith said, a hint of a grin on his face as he busied himself with the controls.

"So, blow the hell out of them with Red. Got it." Pidge noted. "What do you think it is they want us to steal anyways? This is way more elaborate than the usual run of the mill job."

"No idea." Keith told her. "Whatever it is, it must be something important to Zarkon."

"Maybe we're going to steal his dog." She joked.

"I think Zarkon's more of a cat person." Glancing over towards her, Keith's eyes gleamed in the low light of the cockpit. "Just look how pissed he got when I stole one from him."

"Maybe there's hope for me having a seven figure bounty yet." Pidge said.

"Trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be." Keith told her. "You can't even go outside without some bounty hunter trying to take you down."

"Eh." Shrugging her shoulders, she couldn't help but tease him a little. "Least I don't stand out half as much as you."

"You're human." Keith pointed out. "Out here, that's rare."

That was a fair point, she was willing to admit. There were plenty of _humanoid_ races around- but aside from Keith, she'd never really seen any aliens that looked enough like one to pass. There apparently used to be at least one race- _Alteans_ \- but those were all long gone by now, wiped out ages ago by Zarkon.

In any case, she was pretty sure that Keith was at least _some_ percentage human. So he kind of didn't count either.

"Besides, your mom would kill me if I let your bounty get to seven figures." Keith told her, before squinting. "Or like. Nine. Is my bounty up to nine figures now?"

"Try ten." Pidge told him, arching her brows. He seemed to fluctuate between feeling proud of his own bounty and regretting everything he had ever done to lead up to it- and right now, he seemed to be in the latter camp. "I'm pretty sure you're like... Zarkon's Most Wanted."

"Fantastic." Keith grumbled. "My life's goal, realized."

"And to think, all you did was steal a giant robotic cat." Pidge chirped. "And this ship. And a fighter. And-"

"Yeah, thanks Pidge, I get it." Shooting her a look, Keith got to his feet. "C'mon. We shouldn't keep our gracious hosts waiting."

"Aw yeah, giant flying cat time." Springing out of her seat, she trailed after Keith. "You think there's like, more of them? Because I so want one."

"No idea." Keith said with a shrug. "Red hasn't said anything like that."

"Oh, so she'll tell you she has an _ion cannon_ , but she won't tell you where she comes from." Arching her brows, Pidge grabbed a pair of com links, tossing one Keith's way, and keeping one for herself.

"Look, I don't control what she decides to share with me, okay?" Keith told her, tucking the com link away in one of his belt pouches. "She does what she does. Besides, it's more like a railgun."

"Like any cat would." Pidge said, following him into the ship's hangar.

It had taken her by surprise the first time she'd seen it- but man, did she ever love this thing now. The red lion- or _Red_ , as Keith called her- was a thing of true beauty. What she would give for a chance to take it apart, to see how it ticked- but alas, it was not meant to be.

The idea that it was sentient was one that she found hard to swallow at first- she'd thought Keith had been joking the first time he'd told her it spoke to him. But no, he'd been completely serious- and the more time she spent around it, the more she realized that they were both dealing with something that was _completely_ beyond their realm of understanding.

Strangely, it wasn't the least bit scary.

She just wished Red would warm up to her a little. Oh sure, she let her in and all, but she didn't let anyone other than Keith touch her controls, hiding them away if she made so much as a move for them. When she asked him about it, he'd just shrug, saying something along the lines of _she chose me_.

(There was always a certain element of wonder in that statement, as if he still couldn't believe it.)

"So, think we'll get a warm welcome?" Pidge asked, draping herself over the back of Keith's chair, as he prepared for launch.

"Nope."

* * *

"Weapons."

She needn't even look to know that the question- it wasn't even a question, just a _demand_ \- wasn't directed towards her. There had been a guard placed at the hangar they had been directed to land in, one of whom was now barring Keith's path with one of his hands.

" _Weapons_ , Galra."

Mouthing what Pidge knew to be _warm welcome_ underneath his breath, Keith let out a long sigh, moving for his knife, detaching it's sheath from his belt. "You'd better give it back when this is over." He told him, passing it to the guard. "Because I'll come get it if you don't."

The guard remained impassive, merely giving him a grunt of confirmation in reply. Passing the knife and it's sheath to one of his counterparts, he held out an expectant hand. "The rest."

Muttering underneath his breath, Keith made a face as he reached into his boot, pulling out another, smaller knife. The guard remained there, with his hand outstretched, only a slight crinkle to it's brow as Keith swore in a language it had no cause to understand. Out came another knife, from his other boot, followed by two more that he had apparently tucked into each of his sleeves.

"There." Spreading out his hands, Keith looked the very picture of exasperation. "Or do you want me to just strip?"

"That will not be necessary." The guard said, passing the gathered assortment to his counterpart. "You may collect them once the meeting is over."

"I'd better." Narrowing his eyes, Keith grumbled to himself as he caught up to Pidge, who had been watching the entire thing with a mixture of bemusement- she'd never had a chance to see that trope play out in real life before meeting Keith- and disgust, because it shouldn't even be needed in the first place.

"So," dropping her voice to a whisper, Pidge cast a glance up at him, "...should we tell him that Red would absolutely lay waste to this base if she thought you were in danger?"

A faint twitch of a grin surfaced at that. "Nah. Gotta save some surprises."

"Well, at least they let you in this time." Pidge observed. "Remember last time, when you had to wait for me in that seedy bar?"

"Yeah, I remember." Folding his arms in front of him, Keith arched his brows. " _Still_ can't believe they made me pay for the windows. Those guys are the ones who picked a fight with _me_ , shouldn't _they_ pay for it?"

"Or that one time in the space mall." Pidge recounted, sighing dreamily. "We should really go back one day to bug Varkon again. I mean, he was so happy to finally have some _actual_ space pirates in his mall for a change. Do you think Zarkon assigns the mall cops himself, or does he like, delegate that to someone else?"

"Imagine you get into Zarkon's army, but your only job is to train _mall cops_." Keith said.

Now that they had entered the complex proper, they both became keenly aware that this was clearly more than just a simple briefing on a job. The halls were lined with what they'd come to recognize as freedom fighters- judging from their attire, all from a variety of groups. All attention, it seemed, was turned on them- chiefly on Keith, but no small amount of them spared her a few glances.

She felt _pity_ in them, enough to make her grit her teeth.

In the gazes that were directed towards Keith, there was everything ranging from uncertainty to downright spite- it was clear as day that regardless of how they felt, nobody actually _wanted_ him here. His presence was being tolerated at best, presumably because they felt they had no other choice but to call on him.

Which raised questions again, as to what exactly this job entailed.

The gathering point was a meeting room- what looked to be some kind of communal dining hall back when this place was still operational. Neither of them missed the way things stilled as they entered, but for the large part, they put it out of mind. There was only one seat available, which Pidge took, leaving Keith to lounge behind it, watching the occupants with mild curiosity.

The lights were dim enough for his eyes to glow, making those gathered ill at ease. He seemed to ignore it.

"This is _definitely_ not a small job." He muttered, causing Pidge to snort in spite of herself.

* * *

It most _definitely_ was not a small job.

"So, let me just get this straight," lifting one hand, Keith's voice cut through the din of the meeting room, his lazy Common drawing just as much ire as the fact that he had chosen to say anything at all, "...you want us to steal something, but you don't even know what it is that you want stolen?"

The alien that they had both determined was the more or less leader of this gathering bristled at his words, their feathers raising. "Yes."

"But it's important?" Keith asked.

" _Very_." The alien said, straightening their already very long back. "Our intelligence indicates that whatever is on that ship, it's something that Zarkon believes can end the opposition to his reign forever."

"But the ship it's on is basically part of one of the most heavily fortified fleets in Zarkon's arsenal." Keith continued, arching a brow. "For something that's so important, you're sure not willing to risk much for it."

"There is a ship that has been tracking the fleet that will be ready to assist you, _Galra_. A small team will draw less attention than a full scale invasion." The alien told him simply. "And I believe that the payment we have offered you is more than worth the risk."

"Not if we die." Pidge chimed in. "Sounds _a lot_ like you're sending _us_ ," and she did not miss the way the alien flinched at that word, as if she hadn't even considered the possibility that the Galra would not be the _only_ one at risk here, "...out on a suicide mission."

"Sure does." Keith observed. "There's tons of other pirates out there, larger and less objectionable than me, so I gotta ask- why us?"

For a long moment, the alien held her silence, before she seemed to resign herself. "The beast in your possession. We believe it's... related to whatever's on that ship."

She wasn't telling them everything, they both sensed it right away. There was almost an undertone of _you don't deserve to know this_ to their voice, and deeper down than that, one of _you don't deserve to_ _ **have**_ _this_ , that neither of them missed.

"What, Red?" Keith asked, blinking a little, exchanging a glance with Pidge. "You sure?"

The alien's nose- what it _had_ of a nose, at least- seemed to crinkle at the implications of what had just been said. "Yes, I am most certain. We wish for you to fetch whatever it might be, and bring it back to us."

It had caught Keith's interest, Pidge knew. Glancing up at him, she dropped her voice, switching away from Common and back to plain English. "What do you think, Keith?"

Tilting his head in thought, Keith ignored the tension in that spread through the room as they slipped into a language that none of them understood. Even if they had the same translator nanobots as she did, they still wouldn't be able to understand- she'd had to program English into hers.

Without it, she wouldn't be able to understand a _damn thing_ anyone said, much less communicate on her own. Keith, on the other hand, had learned both Common and Galran the old fashioned way- he'd been taught.

"If it has to do with Red, we should go for it." Keith said finally. "Who knows? Maybe we'll find you your own magical flying cat."

"Oh man, I'd love a magical flying cat." Pidge whispered. "Still, not sure it's worth the risk."

"Ship like that might have some top notch prisoner information." Keith pointed out.

"...that's-" Pidge opened and closed her mouth, mulling it over for a moment. "...that's a good point, actually."

"So, we doing this?" Keith asked.

"What the hell." Leaning back in her chair, Pidge shrugged her shoulders. If it meant getting a clue to her family's whereabouts, any risk was worth it. "Might as well."

Looking back up at the alien, Keith switched back to Common. "Guess we're in."

* * *

Turned out, getting on the ship was the _easy_ part.

The rebels had agreed to launch brief attack on the fleet- a hit and run, designed to sow confusion, if not any real damage. If there was one more Galra fighter returning to the hangar once the brief battle was done with, nobody paid it any mind.

They weren't the only ones who had snuck aboard the ship during the firefight, they knew. The ship was just too massive to search with only two people- two rebel fighters from the ship that had been tailing the fleet had also slipped on board using the fight as a cover. They were to send out a coded signal if either group found the target, at which point, explosives would be set up to cover their exit.

Keith had just wanted to bust right in using the red lion, but that plan had been quickly rejected. The goal was to try and slip in without being noticed, and get out with whatever was being transported without notice.

To which, the rebels had been right- a small boarding party was easier to hide than a large one. The last thing they wanted was for the ship to make a jump to Central Command while they were all still on board.

If worst came to worst, Red would come for them- or well, she'd come for _Keith_. She'd do damn near anything for Keith.

"You ready, Pidge?"

Dimly glowing eyes flicked back in her direction- a crease of what she knew to be worry on Keith's face. He'd wanted her to stay behind, but she had fought against it. They were a team, and she couldn't just send him into the line of danger if she wasn't willing to go in there just the same.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Pidge told him, flashing him a grin. She had armor, he wouldn't let her go anywhere without it, even if he forewent most of it himself. "If we can get into their systems, we have a better chance of finding out where they're keeping... whatever it is that they've got on this ship."

"So I need to get you to a computer hub, is what you're saying." Keith said, before nodding his head. "Yeah, I think I can manage that."

"Good, because I'll need you to cover me while I hack into their systems." She told him, her gaze flickering towards the drone hovering just in front of her. "We can use Rover as an advance scout. Hopefully we'll be able to avoid the sentries."

Giving her a curt nod, Keith's eyes narrowed, and she knew that he was focusing himself on the task at hand. He could draw out a singular focus that she sometimes found herself envying, devoting the whole of himself to a mission.

"Okay." One hand resting on the hilt of his knife, Keith exhaled. "Let's go."

The layout of the ship wasn't unlike others that they had been on, only larger. Evading the sentries was made easier with Rover's help, none of them pausing to think about why the drone glowed green instead of red. It took a bit of doing, but they were able to locate the room they were looking for.

Dispatching the two sentries guarding the door couldn't be avoided, but thankfully, they managed to do it without raising any alarms. Keith dragged them both inside with them, closing the door. It wouldn't buy them much time if someone found them, but enough.

"C' mere." Grabbing his hand, Pidge hauled Keith over to the computer console, pressing it up against it. The DNA coded tech that the Galra used was fascinating to her- she'd had a chance to examine it in depth when she had reprogrammed their stolen Galra ship to only allow the two of them to access it, but was also a system that was clearly designed with the idea of absolute loyalty in mind.

It did not factor in Galra like Keith, who, if given the chance, would stab Zarkon right in his face, consequences be damned.

(That wasn't an exaggeration. She was pretty sure he would.)

"Geez, Pidge, all you have to do is ask." His tone was in good humor, but it did nothing to disguise the layer of discomfort underneath it. It was enough to make her remember that he wasn't exactly fond of being touched.

"Sorry." Her apology was quick- time didn't afford them anything more.

"Alright, I'm in. I should be able to find out where they're keeping this thing." Switching gears back to the mission, Pidge hummed to herself. "And with any luck, maybe what the hell it's supposed to be."

"Counting on you." Keith told her, keeping his gaze trained on the door.

After the span of a few moments, his fingers twitched, muscles tensing. Free hand reaching for his knife, he narrowed his eyes. "Someone's coming."

"Sentries?" She asked, her gaze flitting in his direction.

"No. Footsteps are wrong." Keith muttered, dropping his voice. Now even she could hear the slight commotion outside of the door- and just a few scant seconds later, it slid open.

Drawing his knife, Keith braced himself for whoever it was that was coming inside- before freezing, the tension seeming to wash out of his shoulders. Turning her head to face the intruders- and she didn't miss the irony of calling them that, when they were just as much intruders as them- she felt her own shoulders slump.

Not sentries, or Galra. Rebels.

The other pair, she guessed. Based on the masks they wore, they were probably a group from the borderlands. One held an arm from one of the sentries, they'd probably been using it to access the entry scanners. From the look of it, they'd had the same idea she did- what were the odds?

"If you'll just give me a tick, I'm close to extracting the information we need." Pidge told them, watching out of the corner of her eye as Keith sheathed his knife. The two rebels seemed to relax somewhat, but she didn't miss the way one of them perked at the sound of her voice.

"... _Katie_?"

She froze.

Fingers halting, Pidge slowly turned her head. She hadn't expected to hear that name in space. It was muffled by the mask, but she knew that voice- she'd know it anywhere. Heart pounding in her chest, she slowly turned herself all the way around, wondering if it could be possible, if it could really be true.

One of the two figures reached up, pulling of their mask- revealing a face that she'd know anywhere, even if his hair had gotten shaggier, even if he didn't have that scar on his cheek before.

No wonder they'd had the same idea.

"... _Matt_?"


	3. sleeping beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, apparently he did understand that reference. Wow Keith, way to be like, the most disappointing alien ever.
> 
> (Yet somehow simultaneously the most interesting Galra ever? It was a weird mix.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey yo, here's chapter three! In which Matt and Pidge reunite, Matt marvels in how powerful his baby sister is, they pick up something very important, and Keith finally gets to wreck things, just like he's always wanted. Also, Te-Osh is there. Oh Te-Osh, you left us too soon.

If someone told him two years ago that he was soon going to find himself mixed up in an intergalactic war, he wouldn't have believed them.

He'd have also thought that the idea sounded really cool. Fighting aliens? Sign him up!

Turns out, it would have neither been a lie, nor have been all that cool. Okay, sure, it wasn't like, _terrible_ \- there was _so much_ amazing tech out here in space, that he couldn't deny he was having a field day with it all. And he was doing good, and doing good felt good, even on the days when it didn't feel good, because things hadn't gone well, and people had gotten hurt, or killed, sometimes even _worse_ than that-

-and reality would set in.

He was fighting a war, on the losing side.

Damned if he'd go join the other one though. Not when they'd taken his father from him. Not when they'd taken Shiro from him.

Not when they'd taken _him_.

Besides, Matt Holt did not just _give up_.

He should be home, on Earth right now, with his mother and his father, his little sister, and their dog, and they would all be eating dinner together, and things would be just fantastic. Instead, he was here, infiltrating a ship that belonged to a massive empire that he hadn't even been able to _fathom_ before all of this.

He wasn't alone- Te-Osh had taken on the mission with him. He'd wanted to go, hoping that the ship might have information about his father, or about Shiro, and she had decided to go with him. She'd rescued him, trained him, and was going to take responsibility for whatever happened with him.

Te-Osh was great. She was! He loved Te-Osh, he'd bring her home to dinner- not like, in a _time to_ _meet the parents_ way, but more like a _hey pal, wanna come over to dinner_ way. He just wished they could have met under better circumstances.

There was another two person team beyond them, somewhere on this big rig of a ship. The rebels had hired a pair of pirates for the job- not just any pirates, but space pirates- _actual_ space pirates! The operation had come together so quickly, that he hadn't been able to go over the mission briefing in relations to them, so he'd no idea what to expect.

Odds were, on a ship this big, they might not even run into each other.

It was his idea to pull the information that they needed from the ship's systems. Te-Osh had agreed, saying it would be the fastest and safest way of finding what they were looking for- whatever the hell that was. Matt didn't know, and he suspected that nobody else involved did either.

Just that it was somehow important to Zarkon, which in turn, made it important to them.

So. Get in, get out, hopefully don't die.

Basically like, every other mission he'd run since he'd gotten caught up with the rebellion. Only this time there were space pirates involved.

Which man... totally cool. Cause was great and all, loved that dismantling of an ancient behemoth of an empire, but man. If he had his options of choosing what to do in space, then honestly? Being a space pirate was like, _way_ cooler.

"Matt, here." Te-Osh's whisper was low, and he quickly followed her signal. She pointed to a room just across the way from them, and they exchanged a glance, both nodding their heads.

"No guards." He whispered, narrowing his eyes. "Why are there no guards?"

"Do you think it could be a trap?" Te-Osh asked.

He considered it but- no, that didn't seem right. "I don't think so. If they knew we were here, they would have had plenty of chances to take us out already. I say we should take the chance while we have it."

"Right." With a curt nod of her head, her grip tightened on the sentry arm that they had, ah, _borrowed_. Had to get around those pesky Galra specific sensors _somehow_.

(Man, what he would give for a chance to take one of those sensors apart. He'd love to see how they ticked.)

When the door slides open, for the span of a moment, all Matt can see are the glowing golden eyes. His breath hitches in his throat, grip on his staff tightening as he prepares for a confrontation- but then his own eyes adjust, and he notices that the glowing ones are set in a face that looks far less like a Galra's, and more like a...

...like a human's.

If humans had purple, pointy ears.

And- holy shit, those _teeth_. Those were some- those were some goddamn _teeth_.

Okay, so maybe the guy, whoever the hell he was, was at least a _little_ Galra.

...heh. A little Galra. Get it? Because they were (probably) Galra, but also small. A small Galra.

_Smallra_.

"The pirates." He hears Te-Osh mutter under her breath, and he finds himself relaxing at her words. He watches as the golden eyed pirate slips his knife back into his sheath, realizing that they aren't enemies at the same time they do. The smaller of the pair- and for some faint reason, Matt can't shake the idea that he knows the sight of that hunched over back from _somewhere_ \- is busy breaking into the ship's systems, one step ahead of them.

They'd had the same idea. What were the odds?

"If you'll just give me a tick," the smaller of the pirates speaks, and all at once, he realizes why he knows that back, "...I'm close to extracting the information we need."

For the span of a moment, his brain grinds to a halt.

Because while he's a clever guy, smart as a whip and not afraid to admit it, there's something about his little sister being in space, on a Galra ship, that is just a little too much for him to process right away.

"...Katie?"

Her name slips out- not the fond nickname that he always called her, the one she only decided she didn't hate just before he'd left- but her name.

And she stirred.

Oh god, she stirred.

If there was any doubt in his mind, it was gone now, now that she was turning around to face him. Her hair was much shorter than when he'd left her, and she was wearing his old glasses, but he'd know his sister anywhere.

"...Matt?"

Holy shit, he couldn't help but think to himself, she really _did_ come up to find him.

That's his sister, alright.

"Katie!" And for a moment, he completely forgets where he is, completely forgets the urgency of their mission, completely forgets that sentries could come and kill them all at any moment. Dropping his staff, he closes the distance between them in one fell swoop, scooping up his sister in his arms and holding her close.

Oh god, she was real. She was really real! Katie was here, and-!

...wait.

_Wait_.

Katie was here. Katie was here, and the pirates were also here? The two person pirate team made up of two people, which, coincidentally, was the same number of people in the room just before he and Te-Osh arrived? There was a crackle of static in his brain before all of his thoughts came out in a rush, because holy shit, his little sister was a _space pirate_.

God. Leave it to Katie to be like. _Ten times_ cooler than him. As if he ever doubted it for a second.

"It's really you." She seemed to breathe the words, clutching him all the tighter. "I can't believe it."

" _You_ can't believe it?" Matt asked, unable to keep himself from sounding a little amused. That was his line! "I can't believe you're in _space_. How did you even _get_ here?"

Drawing away from him just enough so that he could see the impish grin on her face, Katie's gaze flickered to her companion. "Keith abducted me."

" _Abduct_ -!" The not quite Galra- whose name was _Keith_ , apparently, what kind of alien was named _Keith_ \- seemed to sputter. "You forced me to take you with me!"

"Hey, you agreed to it." She pointed out, drawing slowly away from Matt, though she seemed almost hesitant to do so- perhaps fearful that if she did, he would vanish like a mirage. "You could have just slipped away in the night and left me."

"...you have a point there, and I hate it." Keith told her, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"Oh, I know." Adjusting his glasses- _her_ glasses now, Matt supposed, as she'd apparently taken ownership of them in his absence, and man, did she rock that look- Katie gave his hand a squeeze, before she turned back to the computer terminal. "Looks like I got something."

Oh right. They were on a mission right now. Matt had totally forgotten. Scrambling back for his dropped staff, he exchanged a brief glance with Te-Osh. She merely rested a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze- he'd told her about the sister that he had left back on Earth, and while he guessed she was probably just as surprised about this turn of events as he was, she nevertheless seemed pleased for him.

At least, he thought so. It was kind of hard to tell under the mask.

"What do ya got, Pidge?" Keith asked, leaning in to look, before letting out a low whistle. "That is _a lot_ of guards."

"Wait, you let him call you Pidge?" Matt piped up, glancing between the two of them.

"I wasn't about to give the alien that crash landed in our backyard my _real name_ , Matt." Katie- _Pidge_ \- so helpfully supplied.

"Wait," squinting, Matt's nose scrunched up, "...an alien crash landed in our backyard?"

"More like the forest near our house, but yeah." Pidge said, barely sparing him a glance. "It's a long story."

"Long story." Keith seemed to echo. "So? What's the best route down?"

"Here. There's a path through the ventilation system that will take us right above the entrance." Tapping her fingers against the holoscreen, she trailed a path down to one of the lower decks. "With that many guards out in front, whatever they're transporting to Central Command _has_ to be here."

"That is quite a number of guards," Te-Osh observed, "...perhaps we could find another route?"

"No, it doesn't look like there is any other route. There's no way to get into that room without having to deal with the guards. Probably why the chose it." Pidge told her, glancing back towards her with a slight frown, before glancing back towards Matt.

"Oh, right." Matt blinked. "This is Te-Osh. She helped break me out of Galra jail."

Te-Osh gave them an incline of her head. "A pleasure. Matt has spoken to me of his sister before."

"Only good things, I hope." Pidge said. "But as for the guards... well, I don't think they'll be too much of a problem. Keith?"

Matt didn't miss the way that Keith's hand drifted down towards the hilt of his knife, a dangerous glint in those golden eyes of his. "Definitely not a problem." He echoed.

"Wait, wait." Holding up his hand, Matt glanced between the two of them. "Are you suggesting that, Keith here," he paused, glancing towards the aforementioned alien, "...it's Keith, right?"

"It's Keith." He confirmed with a shrug.

"Okay. Are you saying that Keith here is just going to fight them all on his own?" Matt asked.

"Yu _p_." Letting the _p_ pop, Pidge grinned back towards him. "Operation Drop Keith Right Into the Middle of the Enemy and Make Them Cry. A classic."

"We have _got_ to come up with a shorter name for that." Keith seemed to mutter, and Matt honestly couldn't figure out if he'd meant to say that out loud.

"And from there, depending on what we find..." Pidge leaned in closer to the screen, before pulling away, casting another glance towards Keith. "Escape plan R?"

"Escape plan R."

* * *

Keith, Matt decided, was certifiably _insane_.

What his sister, his dearest sister, had neglected to mention about the drop from the ventilation shaft was that it was _straight down_ , landing them quite _literally_ in the middle of a cluster of sentries. Sure, sure, there was the element of surprise and all that but what good would that do you once you were deep inside their circle?

Keith didn't even blink.

No hesitation, just kicked the vent shaft right open and _dropped_. He'd taken the first drone out before any of the others even had the chance to register the vent's grate clattering on the floor, and by the time they'd done that, he'd already taken out the second one.

By the time they'd registered that they had lost two of their number, there went the third.

Did he mention Keith was only armed with a knife? Because he was only armed with a knife.

"See?" Pidge beamed. "I told you it would be fine."

Matt could only slowly nod, wondering what exactly it was that his little sister had found herself tangled up in- and _with_.

Because man. _Oh man_.

A sharp whistle sounded down below, and Pidge only grinned all the wider, grabbing one of the many objects that hung off of her belt. Hooking one part to the edge of the shaft, she jumped out of it without a second thought, guided down by a rope that slowed her fall. Once on the ground, she waved up to the pair of them, tugging on the rope.

"C'mon, let's go!" She called up. "We don't have all day!"

"Your sister is... quite interesting." Te-Osh observed, and he could feel her gaze flickering towards him.

"I know." Matt whispered, almost sounding reverent. "She's the best."

Drawing in a long breath, he grabbed the rope, using it to slide down from the shaft. Te-Osh followed soon behind, and once she was down, Pidge gave it a firm tug, sending it retracting back into the device on her belt.

"You build that?" Matt asked.

"Had to." Pidge told him. "Had to figure out how to keep up with Keith somehow."

Arching his brows, Matt let his gaze trail over towards the aforementioned alien. He had to make a slight amendment to his earlier statement- Keith was in fact, not armed with _just_ a knife.

He was armed with many. Many knives. One of which he was retrieving from the head of a fallen sentry, and neatly tucking back into one of the sleeves of his jacket. Weaving his way through his own handiwork towards the now thoroughly unguarded door, he pressed his hand up against the scanner, the door sliding open at his beck and call.

Okay so, _definitely_ Galra, then.

His sister had apparently joined forces with a Galra space pirate. A Galra space pirate who raided Galra ships. A Galra space pirate who raided Galra ships, whose name was _Keith_.

And he thought that joining a rebellion against a ten thousand year old intergalactic empire after being abducted by them and then subsequently freed by the aforementioned rebels was an interesting back story. Clearly he was just amateur hour here.

Still, Galra or no Galra, he knew his sister was a pretty decent judge of character. It was clear she trusted the guy with her life, and if she did, why shouldn't he? He'd done nothing thus far to prove otherwise.

"C'mon, Matt!" Grabbing his hand, Pidge grinned from ear to ear as she dragged him through the ruins of the sentries. Te-Osh trailed behind them, watching them with what he was pretty sure at this point was amused interest. "Let's get what we came for and then blow this joint."

"Keith!" She called out. "What's behind door number one?"

Oh come on, he wasn't going to understand-

"Pretty sure it's something you gotta come see for yourself." Keith called back.

Okay, apparently he _did_ understand that reference. Wow Keith, way to be like, the most disappointing alien _ever_.

(Yet somehow simultaneously the most interesting Galra ever? It was a weird mix.)

And also, wow, yeah- this... this definitely was something one had to see for themselves.

"...is that a person?" Came his sister's faint whisper, her grip slipping away from his hands as she went to study the sight in front of her. He could hardly blame her- he'd never seen anything like this himself either, and he'd been in space for quite awhile.

It was a pod, of some kind- and Pidge was right, there did appear to be a person inside. He could just barely make out their silhouette, but whoever it was, they appeared to be as still as death.

"Te-Osh?" Matt glanced back towards her. "Any ideas?"

"I..." Resting a hand on the strange pod, Te-Osh's voice took on a note of confusion. "I'm not sure, but it seems to be Altean in nature."

"Altean?" Keith perked up at that, ears almost seeming to twitch. "You sure?"

"Fairly." Te-Osh told him.

"Weren't the Alteans like, wiped out ten thousand years ago?" Pidge asked.

"Yes, they were." Te-Osh told them. "Altea was the first planet that Zarkon destroyed."

"Well, whatever the case, this _has_ to be what Zarkon wants." Keith said, his lips set in a tight frown. "Or _who_ , I guess."

"Oh man, my bounty is going to go _way_ up after this." Pidge whispered.

"Wait- you have a _bounty_?" Okay, sure, maybe that wasn't the most important thing right now, but _come on_!

"Matt, _you_ have a bounty." Te-Osh lightly reminded him.

"Oh." Pausing for a moment, Matt frowned. "Oh yeah."

"It will not be easy to get out of here with this." Te-Osh noted, her gaze dropping down towards Keith. "I do not suppose you are strong enough to carry it?"

"Pretty sure no." Keith told her, tight frown giving away to a toothy grin. "But don't worry. Help's on the way."

"Oh man," Pidge whispered, barely able to contain her excitement, "...you're going to _love_ Red, Matt."

"Red?" Matt asked, glancing between the two of them, wondering if he was missing out on some kind of private joke. Was she at the stage with this guy where she had private jokes with him now? Man, how much had he been missing out on?

It's not long before the sound of an alarm echoed through the ship, and for a moment, Matt thinks they've been discovered. But no, the sound of it isn't quite right- he's been on enough Galra ships to know the sound they use to alert the crew and sentries alike of intruders. This one... this one is an incoming vessel alarm.

Pidge and Keith just grin at each other. He's pretty sure they fist bump. Who taught the alien to fist bump. Was it his sister. God bless you if so, Pidge.

The ship rocks as something collides into it, nearly throwing Matt off of his feet. Te-Osh maintains her balance, and Pidge actually does nearly fall over- but Keith steadies her with one hand, an almost absent-minded action. He barely has the chance to question it, before probably the strangest thing that's happened the entire day plays out before him.

It's... it's a lion. Or like, the _head_ of a lion. A really big, lion, made entirely of metal. What the what.

It fills the gap it created upon ramming into the ship with it's aforementioned head, and not a second later, opens it mouth, lowering a ramp from it.

Faintly, he thinks he hears Te-Osh whisper something about _Voltron_ next to him, her tone almost reverent.

"Close your mouth, Matt," Pidge chirped, grinning from ear to ear, "...and help Keith get the pod on board. Time to go."

* * *

Never since he had been first captured by the Galra, had Matt come so close to death that many times in one day.

Don't get him wrong- Keith was an _amazing_ pilot. Like, really, probably one of the best that Matt had ever known- and he had the privilege of knowing Garrison legend _Takashi Shirogane_ , so that was saying something. It was just...

Keith was just as crazy a pilot as he was a fighter.

Which, in this case, was probably a good thing, because he was pretty sure that no sane pilot could have gotten them away from the Galra fleet like Keith had. Once they realized just _where_ the red lion- and that was what they were in, something called a red lion- had crashed into their ship, it didn't take them long to realize that they'd been robbed.

Or well- maybe not _robbed_ , considering there was an actual (hopefully) real, live person involved.

(Was this a kidnapping? Was he now involved in a kidnapping? Just when he thought his life couldn't get any wilder, things just continued to happen.)

Either way, whatever the case, the fact of the matter was that no sooner than had they realized that, were they all hands on deck. Shoot the flying red lion out of the sky seemed to be the goal of the game, and considering that they were all inside of the flying red lion, he very much hoped that they did not _win_ said game.

Keith took it as a challenge.

Pidge, somehow, looked entirely unaffected by this all.

Either way, it left Matt gripping onto the edge of his seat the entire time, right up until Keith pulled them screaming hot into the hangar of a larger ship. He barely even registered it when his sister pried his hands off of said seat, leading him down the ramp into the aforementioned hangar.

"And this," holding his hand in a vice grip with one, dramatically spreading out the other to show off the interior of the hangar bay, "...is our ship! We stole it from the Galra."

" _I_ stole it from the Galra." Keith supplied, rather unceremoniously sliding the strange pod down the ramp of the red lion with his foot. Turning his head, he jerked it up to face the robot in question, brows knitting together. "What? It's heavy!"

"Uh, who is he talking to?" Matt whispered, leaning down to his sister's ear level. Man, he'd forgotten how tiny she was- or maybe he'd just grown?

"Red." Pidge merely supplied, giving him a shrug of his shoulders like being able to communicate with some kind of strange robotic beast ship was no big deal at all. "So, other than this thing _probably_ being Altean, any idea what we got here?"

"Red's trying to tell me something, but she's not making a whole lot of sense." Keith told them, a tight frown on his lips as he tried to upright the pod. "Something about a princess? I don't know guys, she seems just as confused as I am."

"A princess?" It was Te-Osh that spoke- and who assisted with the uprighting of the pod, helping Keith to lean it up against one of the walls of the hangar. "Altea did have a princess, ten thousand years ago, according to the legends."

"Okay, so what we have here is possibly a ten thousand year old Altean princess?" Pidge questioned. "Okay, great. That definitely clears things up. Do you think the other rebels knew about this?"

"If they did, they didn't share it with us." Matt told her, shaking his head. "Kind of like Sleeping Beauty."

"What, you gonna try to kiss her to wake her up?" Keith quipped.

Jerking his head up at that, Matt stared at the strange not-quite Galra with an open mouth. "Wha- how do _you_ know that reference?"

"Don't bother." Pidge told him, as Keith merely spread out his shoulders, giving them a helpless shrug. "Keith's entire character is based around him being an elusive asshole."

"Pidge!" Matt gasped, drawing back from his sister in shock. "Who taught you how to swear!?"

She simply arched a brow, her expression as dry as her tone. "I've _always_ known how to swear, Matt."

"Boy does she." Keith muttered, half under his breath.

"I don't want to hear that from someone whose first word to me was _fuck_." Pidge reminded him, peeking her head around her brother's body so that she could lock eyes with him.

"Wow. _Wow_." Matt said, stumbling back. "I've been in space for like, two years, and now my sister is here, she's a space pirate, and she knows how to swear. What other important events have I missed?"

"Two birthdays which I fully expect to be made up for." Pidge told him- before she cracked a smile, soft and genuine, wrapping him in a tight embrace. "I'm so glad I found you, Matt."

Allowing his shoulders to slump, Matt returned her embrace, leaning down so that he could bury his head in her hair. "Me too, Katie. Me too."

"What about dad?" She asked, looking up at him- and oh, how the hope in her eyes stung. It vanished the moment they met his own, and he could feel her clutch him all the tighter for it. "He's not... he's not with you, is he."

"I am sorry." Te-Osh spoke up. "There were no other humans present when we freed Matt."

"We'll find him, Katie." Matt reassured her, lightly stroking her hair. "I promise."

"What about the pilot?" The question, sudden as it was, was one that neither of them had expected from Keith- who merely met their dual gazes with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean, there was one, right? Find him, you might find your dad."

"Shiro-" Matt began, before he closed his mouth, knowing from the way that she flinched that his grip on Pidge's shoulder had drawn tighter without meaning to. "The last I saw of Shiro was when they took us to the gladiator pits."

Keith flinched, ever so slightly, at his words- and then grew completely unreadable.

"He took my place." Matt told them, gaze dropping downwards. "We were separated after that. I only know that he won his first match. Nothing since."

"And dad?" Pidge asked.

"Dad and I were separated before that." Matt reassured her, sensing her fear. "He was never brought there."

She exhaled at that, her shoulders slumping. "Right." Drawing in and letting out a breath, she forced herself to pry herself away from him. "We've got to get in contact with the rest of the rebels. Let them know we've got their Sleeping Beauty. See what they want us to do next."

There were so many things between them still unsaid- but they would have all the time in the world to discuss it later. Right now, they still had a mission to finish.

"Guess I better move the ship before the Galra come looking for us." Keith seemed to muse aloud, his expression becoming decipherable once more, falling on Te-Osh. "You need to contact that ship of yours?"

"Yes, that would be wise." Te-Osh said with a nod. "I must inform them of these developments. Hopefully we will be able to rendezvous."

"So... we're just going to leave the Sleeping Beauty alone here?" Matt asked, glancing back towards the pod with uncertain eyes.

"Why not?" Keith asked. "If your friend here," and his gaze flickered back towards Te-Osh at that, "...is right, then she's been sleeping for ten thousand years. Don't see why she'd suddenly wake up now."

"Well..." Tilting his head, Matt frowned. "Hm. Good point, actually."

"Besides," Keith said, crinkling his nose, "...pod's a pain the ass to move."

"That," Matt said, nodding his head, "...is also a very good point."

* * *

"So," Te-Osh leaned down, so that he could better hear her, "...who exactly is this Sleeping Beauty, and why does she require a kiss to awaken her?"

Ah, there, see? That was _exactly_ the kind of lack of understanding he had been expecting. Thank you Te-Osh, for bringing him the authentic alien experience. Knew he could always count on you.


	4. legends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Wait, hold up." Pidge said, holding up her hands. "Are you telling me that you stole Red at the same exact time you were escaping from _Galra jail?_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, back again, with chapter four! I find myself without too much to say to you this chapter, so I'll just thank everyone who has read the series thus far, and hope that you continue to stay with us! Until the next chapter!

"Pidge, dearest and most beloved sister of mine."

"Matt, brother of mine who is obviously trying to pander to me."

"Guilty as charged." Not even trying to deny it, Matt simply nodded his head. "You have got to spill the beans. The Keith beans. I gotta know."

"The Keith beans." Pidge repeated, arching a brow. "You want to know how I met Keith."

"Yes." Matt said firmly. "I'm _dying_ to know how you met Keith."

Things, for the time being, were calm. They had managed to slip away from the Galra fleet with no pursuit in sight, and had even managed to rendezvous with his ship- okay so it was actually _Te-Osh's_ ship, fine. There would be some time before they could return to the abandoned way station that the rebels were using as their impromptu base, which in turn, left them with some downtime.

Downtime that Matt was _not_ going to pass up on. He had questions, questions that needed answers, damnit!

Besides, he was alone with his sister right now. Keith was helping Te-Osh transport the princess' pod to her ship. Something about it being better for her to be there, than on his ship, or something along those lines- Matt didn't really get it.

But at any rate, Keith was gone. And what better time to ask questions about him than when he wasn't here?

"He's Galra, right?" Matt asked, tilting his head back to look up at his sister. He did not know that Galra transport ships had _lounges_ \- nor could he have ever imagined how ungodly comfortable their couches were. What the hell. What other secrets were the Galra hiding. Did their commander's quarters have like... full spa baths or something? Waterfall showers? He _had_ to know.

"Mm," pursing her lips together, Pidge leaned back, "...part, I think. He gets called a _halfbreed_ a lot."

"...is that other part human?" Matt inquired, arching a brow. "Cause, just sayin', he gets way too many references to not _somehow_ be from Earth."

"Probably?" Pidge said, sounding uncertain of herself. "He seems really familiar with Earth, yeah, but Keith kind of doesn't talk about himself all that often. If he's at all human, I get the feeling it's something that he doesn't want to talk about."

"Are you honestly telling me, dear sister of mine," Matt began, staring up at her with disbelieving eyes, "...that you've _never_ tried to pry?"

"Oh, I've tried." Pidge reassured him. "It just doesn't end well."

"Yeah?" Matt perked up at that. "He's not-"

"No, not like _that_." Pidge told him, rolling her eyes. "He just clams up and walks away. He's never _hurt_ me, Matt. Well," pausing, she scrunched up her nose, "...not since the first time we met, anyways."

That caught his attention, causing him to spring right up into a sitting position. "Hold on, back up there a second- what do you mean by that?"

"Held a knife to my throat." Pidge told him with a shrug of her shoulders, as if this was no big deal. "Thought I was someone else. Apologized for it. Can't blame the guy, he _had_ just escaped from the empire-"

"Escaped?" Matt asked. "Like, a prisoner?"

"Not _like_ a prisoner, _a_ prisoner." Pidge told him. "I don't know all the details, but apparently Keith was held captive by the Galra empire for some time. A few years, at least."

Aw, man. He could understand how that felt. Somehow, he got the feeling that being at least part Galra hadn't done much to earn Keith brownie points with his captors. And it sure as hell wouldn't have endeared him to his fellow prisoners. Was he thrilled that he had apparently held his baby sister at knife point? Uh, _no_ , obviously not, but hell, he'd probably be skittish too under those circumstances.

"Before that though... no idea." Pidge admitted. "Sometimes he'll slip up, and say things he didn't mean to, but other than that, he clams up pretty tight. He knows what the Galaxy Garrison is, at least. Knows that their probe feeds are supposed to be classified, too."

That- that gave Matt a bit of pause. There was something about the name _Keith_ that when placed alongside the Galaxy Garrison, felt like it should _mean_ something to him. But at the moment, he was just drawing a blank.

He was pretty sure he'd never met Keith before- he sure as hell would have remembered that face, if nothing else.

"So don't ask him about his past, is what I'm getting here." Matt finally said, flopping back down on the couch again. "Got it. Still haven't answered my first question though, sis. How did you two end up meeting? You said he crash landed in our backyard?"

"Well, in the forest." Pidge corrected. "But yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it. I was already monitoring alien radio chatter," _of course_ she was, Matt thought to himself, leave it to his sister to be able to invent something to allow her to do that, "...and it just exploded into a frenzy one night. When something fell from the sky, there was no way I couldn't go check it out, right?"

"Obviously." Matt agreed, giving her a sage nod of his head.

"Anyways, that's how I met Keith." Pidge told him. "I mean, there's obviously more to the story than just that, but that's the basic gist of it."

"Mm." Matt hummed, closing his eyes, before he paused, opening them back up again, his brows knitting together. "So wait- if you're here, what the hell did you tell _mom_?"

"I told her I was going to go into space with Keith to find you and dad?" Pidge blinked, acting as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wait, hold up." Lifting up one finger, Matt peered back up at his sister. "Does _mom_ know about Keith?"

"Yeah?" Pidge blinked. "He kind of lived in our house for like, a month or so."

"What." Matt stated flatly. "Keith. Lived in our house."

"Yeah, mom forced him to stay." Pidge told him with a shrug. "You know how she is. Once she got past the whole _alien_ part, all she could see was a scrawny teenager."

"Mm." Considering this for a moment, Matt eventually shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, that sounds a lot like mom."

"Right?" Unable to help herself, Pidge grinned. "She'll be so happy when I tell her I've found you. I can't _wait_ until our next call."

"You can contact mom?" Jolting up for a second time, Matt looked at his sister in what was nothing short of awe. "Really?"

"Yup." Puffing out her chest, she beamed at him. "Who do you think I am? The only downside is that she's the one who has to initiate the contact."

"My brilliant and amazing sister, whom I love dearly." Matt told her, pressing his hand to his heart. "And who has clearly leveled up since I saw her last."

"Damn right I have."

"Damn right you have." Matt echoed, grinning from ear to ear. "So. Space pirate. Tell me about that."

That impish grin he had cause to know so well surfacing on her face, Matt couldn't help but return it with one of his own. "What do you want to know?"

" _Everything_."

* * *

She was being watched.

It was not with unease that she realized this. The stare that fell on her back was one of simple curiosity. If anything, the most that she sensed from him was _hesitation_ , nothing that could be viewed in the slightest bit malicious.

He'd something he wanted to ask, but was refraining himself from it. She sensed she knew the reason why- but she did not share the sentiments that her counterparts seemed to hold. Not when she had seen what had been entrusted to him, no.

Nor was she at all unaccustomed to Galra halfbreeds. At the center, things were different, but she had come from the borderlands- where the fight was so desperate, they took help in whatever form it came in. If it happened to possess purple fur and yellow eyes, who were they to judge the reason why one of Zarkon's one might have chosen to flee his mighty empire?

It was oft forgotten, as such things were, that the first people Zarkon conquered were his own.

Still, at this rate, he'd _never_ ask his question on his own.

"You have something you wish to ask of me?" Turning on her heel, Te-Osh leveled her gaze with the halfbreed- _Keith_. Not a very Galran name, she noted, more than likely taken from whatever race he was mixed with. He bore some marked resemblance to Matt's people, but he held himself at a distance from them, so she could not be certain.

Her question seemed to take him off guard- perhaps he didn't realize the intensity of his own gaze.

"You said something," he finally began, swallowing his own hesitation, "...back on the ship."

She'd said a number of things back on the ship, though perhaps not quite as many as Matt had. He was going to have to be a bit more specific.

"Voltron." Keith shaped the word as if it were the first time he'd had cause to speak it. "You mentioned something about Voltron."

Now that took her by surprise, she thought. He piloted one of the lions, she had simply assumed he'd at least heard of the legends, if nothing else.

Most had, though most did not believe.

"You know not of Voltron?" Te-Osh asked, straightening her back. There was no accusation in her tone, merely inquiry.

Folding his arms in front of his chest, Keith's face slipped into a mask of neutrality. Guarding a secret, she thought. Of what kind, she could not know. "No."

"I see." Turning her head, Te-Osh cast her gaze upwards, marveling once more in the sight of the red lion. It truly was a marvel- and to think, she had flown inside of it. She had heard the legends from her mother as a little girl, who thought them mere fairy tales, a fragment of hope to pass along to her child in a world torn apart too long by war.

But she?

She had always believed.

"Then I will ask you this first, young one," at least, she _assumed_ he was young- for a Galra, he was small, barely into adolescence, if that. The way he held himself did not quite match up, so perhaps he was a bit older still. "...where did you come by the lion?"

No accusation to her tone still, but he seemed to bristle at the question regardless. Not the first time he had been asked it, she sensed, in far less kind ways.

"It was on a Galra ship. I stole it."

It was a guarded answer, leaving much of the story out. She chose not to press.

The red lion, the appearance of the Altean princess... they were heralds, she knew, of some kind of _shift_. And with it, the entire fate of the universe might hang in the balance. It was a fragile thing, and she did not wish to harm it, not in any way. This may very well be the key that she, and so many others, had desperately sought.

"It let you in?" Te-Osh questioned.

His brows furrowed slightly, the limit of what he allowed himself to give away. "Yes."

"And it speaks to you?" Te-Osh questioned again.

"When she wants to." Keith curtly supplied. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything." Te-Osh told him. "For this is a lion of Voltron."

His next words, muttered under his breath as they were, were likely not meant for her to hear, so she pretended not to. " _Knew_ they were keeping something from me."

_They_ , she assumed, were her counterparts in the center. She could only wonder at the fact that they were willing to hire him, paying him no small sum of credits, and yet be so unwilling to share information. Perhaps they felt that he should not possess it- that he had taken it somehow.

Well, she thought, with no small hint of amusement- it would seem that he had, in a sense, taken it. From the Galra, his own kin.

"So?" And his voice was louder this time, meant to be heard. "What _is_ a lion of Voltron?"

"A legend." Te-Osh said simply- and, ah yes, she knew that expression on his face. It was a bit different, with the solid color of his eyes, but she recognized it from seeing it before on Matt's face.

_Skepticism_.

"A legend." Keith repeated, his tone flat.

"A legend that seems to be quite real." Te-Osh merely stated. "As the red lion is here. And seems to have chosen _you_ as it's paladin."

He truly must have never heard the legends, if the expression that earned her was one of pure bafflement. "Pala- _what_ now?"

Hm. She'd heard that _exact_ turn of phrase from Matt before. Perhaps this one _did_ originate from the same planet as he did.

"Paladin." Te-Osh said. "One who is chosen by the lions of Voltron."

"And we're back to the Voltron thing again." Now his tone was just dry- and more than a little exasperated.

"Perhaps," Te-Osh said, a faint smile gracing her lips, "...I should tell you the story that was passed on down to me."

* * *

Their return to the rebel base was marked with a flurry of activity.

None of them, it seemed, had expected the pirates to return. When his sister and Keith had stepped out of the ship behind them, a tension filled the air- and for the first time, it dawned on Matt that they were unwelcome here.

Or at least, _Keith_ was.

Keith, who seemed to take the whole thing with a practiced ease, giving a toothy grin to the guard who stopped him. "Weapons?" He asked. "Or am I just not allowed inside this time?"

"Your companion may enter." The guard told him. "You may not."

Okay, wow. What the hell?

Were they... were they keeping him out because he was Galra? At first he just thought that maybe the rebels weren't thrilled about the whole space pirate thing, but they hadn't blinked an eye at his sister, so it _had_ to be that Keith was Galra.

"But he's-" Matt began, only to cut himself off, Keith fixing his gaze on him. Dropping his own down, he caught Pidge's gaze, watching as she slowly shook her head.

"It's fine." Keith told him, taking a step back, holding up his hands. "I can wait."

"No." It was Te-Osh who spoke up, to the surprise of almost everyone. "He will come with us."

"But-" The guard began, glancing from her, back to Keith- and frankly, Matt couldn't decide which of the two looked the more surprised.

"This matter relates to him." Te-Osh said. " _He_ is the red lion's paladin."

Matt had no idea what a _paladin_ was, not in this context, but whatever it was, it was enough to make the guard shut his mouth. He didn't look the least bit happy about it, but he stepped aside, allowing Keith to pass.

For a moment, Keith stood there, rooted to his spot- before he shook off whatever his thoughts were, almost seeming to trail behind them. It was almost like he hadn't expected anyone to stick up for him- nor thought that they should.

But of course Te-Osh had. Why? Because Te-Osh was totally cool, that's why.

Man though- you could cut the tension in this place with a knife. Were they all this unhappy to have a Galra in the midst? It wasn't like he couldn't understand, he kinda did- he'd been held captive by the Galra after all, and his father and Shiro were still missing because of them. There was no denying that the empire had done terrible things.

But that was the _empire_ \- not Keith, who in the short time since he'd met him, had made it very clear that he held no love for it.

Man- if this was how it was to be a Galra that wasn't a part of the empire, then it _sucked_.

"So what do you think a paladin is?" Matt whispered, dropping down to his sister's level.

"Dunno." Pidge whispered back. "Whatever it is, it must be important."

"Hm." Drawing back, Matt's gaze flickered back towards Keith. He'd been... curiously quiet, ever since he'd gone with Te-Osh earlier. He couldn't tell if this was normal for him or not, but it seemed almost as if he were lost in thought.

Had he and Te-Osh spoken about something? Glancing up towards her, he couldn't help but frown again, feeling once more like he was being left out of something.

"What do you think they're going to do with the princess?" Matt asked, this time loud enough for everyone else to hear.

"No idea." Pidge shrugged. "If she really _is_ a princess."

"Red seems to think so." Keith observed, finally breaking his thoughtful silence.

"I thought you said Red wasn't sure?" Pidge asked, glancing back towards him.

"More like she's not sure why she's _here_." Keith told her.

"So, what, the red lion is connected to Altea in some way?" Pidge asked- and this time, her gaze darted forward, up towards Te-Osh.

"The red lion was created on Altea." Te-Osh supplied. "By King Alfor, it's final ruler."

"So, wait- are you saying the red lion is like, _ten thousand years old_?" Pidge questioned, her brows knitting together.

"Apparently." Shrugging his shoulders, Keith quickened his own pace, falling into step beside the Holt siblings. "That's what Te-Osh seems to think."

"It is what I know." Te-Osh said simply. "If the legends are correct, there should be four more like it."

Now that caused his sister to perk up. "Really? Where are they? Do you know?"

Yeah, figures she'd want one of her own. Didn't blame her in the least, since honestly? Same.

A faint smile traced Te-Osh's lips, but she merely shook her head. "No, I do not. We thought them destroyed, for the longest time."

"Until Keith lifted Red from the Galra?" Pidge asked.

" _Lifted_?" Te-Osh asked, her brow furrowing.

"Stolen." Matt supplied. "She means stolen."

"Ah." Te-Osh blinked. "Yes, indeed. Though I am not certain how the Galra managed to obtain the red lion in the first place."

"Don't look at me." Keith said, giving them another shrug of his shoulders. "I just found it when I was trying to escape."

"Wait, hold up." Pidge said, holding up her hands. "Are you telling me that you stole Red at the same exact time you were escaping from _Galra jail_?"

"...pretty much?" Keith told her, the look on his face telling, as if he'd said too much. Ah, so that was what she'd meant earlier. "Look, it's not like I _intended_ to steal it at the time. It just kind of... _called_ to me."

"So you're in the middle of this big escape, and you decide _now's_ the time to listen to a voice in your head?" Pidge asked, her tone so dry, it was like being in the desert.

"Well, when you put it like _that_..." Keith trailed off. "It does kind of make my judgement seem a bit questionable."

"A bit." Pidge repeated.

"A bit." Keith echoed.

"So you just _happened_ to be kept on the same ship as the red lion?" Matt asked- then winced. Oh man, that had sounded a bit like an accusation, which totally had not been his intention.

And oh crap- Keith took it as one too. Oh man. This was bad. Pissing off his sister's ( _literal!_ ) partner in crime was so not on his list of things to do.

"Yeah?" His tone sharp, and his glare sharper, Keith's shoulders tensed. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"No!" Matt blurted out, shaking his head. "No, I mean- I didn't mean it that way, I swear to god, that's not what I meant."

Keith's glower lasted for a moment longer- before it cooled, seeming to accept his apology. Or at least, he hoped he did- it was really hard to tell with those eyes. Wow Matt, _wow_. Setting land speed records for shoving your foot in your mouth, way to go.

"Do you know under whose command the ship you were on was under?" Te-Osh questioned- and thank you, for that change of subject, Matt thought. "It may assist us if you did."

For a long moment, Keith said nothing- perhaps he was just going to clam up again, like Pidge had said he was wont to do. Leveling his gaze with Te-Osh for a long moment, it was clear that he was debating the matter- before he finally seemed to give in, willing to acknowledge that however much he didn't like talking about himself, she had a good point.

Drawing in a breath, as if he were bracing himself for the worst, Keith tensed. "Zarkon's."

Matt stopped. Pidge stopped. _Te-Osh_ stopped.

He was pretty sure that he could _hear_ the gears in their heads turning, trying to process that bombshell- all in perfect sync, he might add. They even all said _what_ in chorus, two loud, and one faint.

Because he wasn't just saying that he'd escaped from a ship in Zarkon's fleet, oh no, he was saying he'd escaped from _Zarkon's_ ship. _Zarkon_. You know, the _ten thousand year old_ leader of the Galra Empire? _That_ Zarkon?

"Wait, wait, wait. Back up." Recovering first, Matt mimicked a rewinding tape with his hands. "You were being held prisoner in _Central Command_?"

"Maybe?" Keith told them. "Look, to be fair, I didn't _know_ it was Central Command at the time."

"So you escaped." Matt said. "From _Central Command_."

And there he was, avoiding their eyes again. "...kind of?"

Okay. He'd heard tales of Central Command. Of course he had, he was a rebel! What rebel _didn't_ know about Central Command? Zarkon's main base! The hub of the empire! And everything he knew about Central Command basically told him one thing.

"How the hell are you even _still alive_?"

"Well," with a light shrug of his shoulders, as if he were trying to downplay the whole affair, "...element of surprise?"

Holy shit, Matt thought. Holy shit. He'd suspected it before, but now he was absolutely one hundred and ten percent certain.

Keith was goddamn _certifiable_.

"That," he caught his sister whispering, "...explains so much."

* * *

He's not wanted here.

He doesn't need anyone to spell it out for him. Even without the suspicious glances cast his way when they think he's not looking- and sometimes when he _is_ \- and even without the hushed whispers that aren't so quiet that he can't make out what they're saying, he knows. He knows when he isn't wanted.

It's nothing new. He hasn't been wanted for a long time.

Before being a space pirate, before being a prisoner, before _everything_ \- it's always been the same. He'd learned how to read the room, how to tell when people didn't want him there- and usually, he'd oblige.

If they didn't want him around, he sure as hell didn't want to be around them either. Fair's fair.

There was someone who wanted him, once, but he was gone now. He was the one who left first, anyways. Who knew if they'd even looked for him, after that.

(He'd still find him. He had to.)

At least now, people had a _reason_ to not want him around. Before it was different- just one extra cog in the wheel, one too many, a problem that nobody wanted to bother solving. But now? Now he knew exactly what they saw when they looked at him- the enemy.

He didn't blame them. He was.

He'd found someone else who seemed to want him, but he knew it wouldn't last. He wasn't going to fool himself into thinking it would.

(He'd let people in before. It had always been a mistake. Why would this time be any different?)

Some _thing_ else, too- but the more he learned about it, the less he understood _why_.

It would have been fine, staying behind and waiting. It wouldn't be the first time. Let Pidge wrap up their business with them, and then get out of here. If they didn't want him here, then he was just fine with leaving, so soon as he got what he came here for. It would be better- _easier_ \- for everyone involved.

But part of him also wanted to know. There were answers here, answers that he couldn't get on his own. Answers he wanted to know, yet wasn't sure he wanted to hear. He'd spent his whole life looking for answers, and when he'd found them, they turned out to be nothing that he wanted to hear.

Why would this time be any different?

And yet, he thought to himself, he still wanted them. He really never learned.

Why him? If everything that Te-Osh had told him was true, why had it chosen _him_? Even _before_ all of this, he'd find it's choice questionable at best, but _now_... couldn't it tell? Couldn't it tell to the extent with which he'd been tampered?

He truly believed that the rebels had been honest when they'd told him that they didn't know what it was that they would find on that ship. But when the ancient pod had been brought in, they seemed to know at once who it was.

Princess Allura, daughter of King Alfor.

And they were going to wake her. Hoping to find the lions of Voltron.

And _that_ , he thought, was what they had been keeping from him. They didn't want him to know just what it was that he had- didn't want him to have it either, that much was crystal clear.

If that was the case, so be it. Maybe they were right, maybe he _didn't_ deserve it. Maybe it was just like everything else in his life- temporary, a means to an end.

But maybe they were wrong- and maybe he _did_.

(But no- they were probably right.)


	5. princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last thing she remembered was her father's voice, telling her that he loved her.
> 
> The next thing she knew, the faint chill of a cryopod was fading from her veins, and she found herself very much not in the Castle of Lions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again in chapter five, and now, finally, the primary main cast is complete! Soon they'll all be making terrible life choices together. Te-Osh where are you. They need adult supervision. Who let these teens out in space by themselves.

The last thing she remembered was her father's voice, telling her that he loved her.

The next thing she knew, the faint chill of a cryopod was fading from her veins, and she found herself very much not in the Castle of Lions.

"Princess Allura," an alien, the likes of which she could not place, gave her a sweeping bow of reception, "...though the circumstances are far from ideal, we welcome you to our humble base."

She was not too proud to admit that she had _no idea_ what was going on at all, nor even where she was. But she was also a princess, born and bred, and so she squared her shoulders, straightened her back, and resolved to meet their courtesy with that of her own. Perhaps if she responded in kind, all her questions would be answered.

"I accept your greeting," she spoke, making sure that her voice projected through the entire room, "...but I must confess, that although you seem to know who I am, that I cannot say the same of you. Please, might you tell me where it is that I find myself, and how it is that I have come to be here?"

"It is a long story, and one that I am afraid we know not all of the answers to." The alien admitted. "I am known by Flos, leader of a small band of rebels against the Galra Empire. There are many others here as well who all share the same goal as I."

_Galra_.

Disoriented though she might be, she nevertheless felt her blood boil at that word. It was the Galra who had turned on them, the Galra who had waged war against them, the Galra who had...

...her father. What of her father?

"What of my father, King Alfor?" Allura spoke, trying to keep her panic from her voice. "Where is he now? And what of Altea? You say that you are rebels, does this then mean it has fallen? And what of the Castle of Lions? Where is it?"

For a moment, there was a lingering silence- before another one of those present spoke. "Princess Allura, it has been ten thousand years since you last woke. Altea and your father alike... they are no more."

The words were spoken with a gentle, somber tone, but it was not enough to keep her heart from breaking at them. Ten thousand years? That could not possibly be right. And her father, her planet... _gone_ , the both of them?

That was... that couldn't be.

"That cannot-" The words slipped out of her before she could stop them, horror crossing her features. At once, she was no longer a princess, finding herself instead a frightened child, bereft of everything that she knew, everything that she loved.

And then she swallowed it back, banishing it to the deepest part of herself. She must face this, whatever it would bring her.

"And the Galra Empire still reigns?" She asked, collecting herself as best she could manage.

Flos spoke again, her tone speaking to a depth of pain and loss that Allura recognized right away. " _Zarkon_ still reigns."

The words were like a blow to her. Here she was, flung into the far distant future, everything that she knew lost to her forever, only to learn that the monster that had taken it all from her still lived. How could that even be possible? The Galra, like Alteans, were a long lived race, but _ten thousand years_? That was unheard of.

"How can that be?" Allura whispered.

"In truth, we know not." Flos confessed. "Only that in these past ten thousand years, the Galra Empire has grown to cover almost the entire known universe."

"Only a few systems still remain free." It was the other alien, the one with the kind voice, who spoke again. "I am Te-Osh, princess, and I come from the borderlands on the edge of the Galra Empire."

Could this future be any more grim? A ten thousand year old reign... she could not even begin to imagine the power of the current Galra Empire. Drawing in a long breath, she steadied herself, trying to sort out her own thoughts. Her father must have sealed her in a cryopod for her own sake, but she could not imagine that he would have ever suspected that she would sleep for this long, nor that the situation would be so dire when she finally awoke.

"I understand." Allura said, even though no, she did not think she did, not wholly. Her eyes cast around the room, studying it's occupants. What had these people been through, fighting against Zarkon and his empire for so long? Many had gathered here, all from different planets, different systems, some of which that she did not even recognize.

One looked away from her almost the instant her eyes fell upon him, and she frowned, a strange feeling crawling up the back of her spine.

"How is it that you came upon me?" Allura asked.

"A small reconnaissance team," strange, she sensed that Flos was leaving something out there, "...recovered your cryopod from a Galra ship. We know not how you got there."

A Galra ship. Her skin crawled at the thought. Her father had clearly done this to protect her, but she had wound up in their hands regardless of his efforts.

"Then I owe you my thanks, clearly." Allura told them, a soft smile gracing her features. "To whom do I owe them to?"

"Te-Osh, of Kythra, and Matthew Holt, of Earth." Flos spoke, indicating both the alien that she had already been introduced to, and one that she hadn't.

She'd never heard of Earth, and the pale skinned alien that was presented to her appeared to be Altean- _almost_. The ears were wrong, rounded and small, and he possessed no markings, other than the small scar that marred one of his cheeks. Standing next to him was one very similar to him in appearance, so much so that she knew that they must have been related somehow.

The small one did not look pleased, for some reason.

Hovering behind the both of them, arms folded and eyes still averted, was the one who had declined to meet her eyes. His skin was of the same color as the two that flanked his front, except where it became...

...was that... was that _purple_?

"We did not do it alone, princess." Te-Osh spoke, and Allura broke her gaze away from the small group of strange aliens. "Without the assistance of these two pirates, we may never have been able to retrieve you from that ship."

Flos seemed to scoff at that. "Yes, for which they had already been handsomely rewarded. They have _quite_ received their thanks already. I know not what you intended by bringing _them_ ," and there was unmasked scorn in her voice, "...here."

"You seek Voltron." Te-Osh said simply. "And yet, you would chase away one of its paladins."

Voltron?

Allura's eyes went wide, her breath catching in her throat. It was a word that brought a flutter of hope to her chest- _Voltron_! It still existed, which means that her father's plan to hide it away must have worked.

And one of its paladins? Here? _Where_?

"The _halfbreed_ is no paladin, Te-Osh." Flos almost seemed to spit, and it was enough to make Allura recoil. "I do not know by what _trick_ it has managed to tame the red lion, but it has no right to sit in its cockpit, much less pilot it."

The red lion! Her father's lion! It still lived, still thrived!

And yet, why did she seem so angry? Halfbreed? Trick? What did she mean by-?

"The halfbreed has a _name_ , you know." The small alien- _Earthling_ \- spoke up, her voice carrying loudly in spite of her petite size. "You could try _using_ it. It's the least you could do after he's stuck his neck out for you."

"For which he has been _paid_!" Flos protested.

" _Enough!_ " Allura's voice cracked, resounding throughout the room like a whip. "Voltron is Altea's legacy, and I will not be left out of discussion related to it. Tell me, Te-Osh," and she turned towards her as she spoke, "...is the red lion's paladin truly here?"

"Yes, princess." Te-Osh spoke, her voice once more growing soft. "He is."

"In that case, I would very much like to meet him." Allura told her, choosing to ignore the prickling sensation at the back of her neck. "All the more so if he assisted in my rescue."

"He is _no_ paladin, your highness." Flos repeated, her tone more terse than before. "He is _Galra_."

Galra.

Just the word was enough to make her blood freeze, thoughts turning to static in her head. The red paladin was _Galra_? Her father's lion was in the hands of the enemy? Eyes scanning the room once more, searching out where this Galra might be, they once more fell back on the one whose gaze had torn away from her, only to find this time, that he met her eyes.

And she knew at once why he had looked away the first time.

Eyes, glowing golden in the dim light of the room, stared back at her. Flecks of purple traced the otherwise pale skin around them, before fading into elongated, purple ears.

_Galra_.

She did not miss the way the two aliens- the Earthlings- seemed to flank either side of him, as if to protect him. Indeed, they seemed to possess features that mirrored of some of his own- if he was a halfbreed, then it was obvious to her what the other half was. They viewed him as their own kind, clearly, as opposed to one of the monsters who had torn the universe asunder.

He'd said, some part of her faintly realized, not a single word in his own defense the entire time.

She did not know why that struck her so.

"The red lion called to him." Te-Osh spoke, and Allura forced herself to tear her gaze away from the Galra. "It speaks to him."

"The red lion was in the Galra's possession." Flos scoffed. "Who knows what they could have done to it during that time."

"And yet you trust him enough to hire him." Te-Osh shot back. "Or did you merely send him to the front lines because you hoped to be rid of him, so that you might claim the red lion for your own?"

And something about that, Allura decided, did not sit well with her. Galra or no, if that was the kind of tactic these rebels used, sending others in to fight for them, unwilling to put their own lives on the line, then it didn't make them much better than the empire.

She did not know what to think of this. But if the red lion had truly called out to this Galra, if it truly did speak to him... then perhaps the choice was not hers to be made.

" _Silence_!" She snapped, her voice cutting through the room once more. Turning her gaze, she let it fall back on the Galra, her brows knitting together. "Speak. I want to hear your name."

For a long moment, the Galra merely held her gaze- before he finally broke his long held silence. "Keith."

Keith. Not a very Galra name, she found herself thinking, unless they had changed their naming patterns in the past ten thousand years.

"Then tell me, Keith," she began, "...are you truly the red paladin?"

He held her gaze for a moment longer- and in the span of that moment, she could read the conflict in his eyes, without pupil though they were. "I don't know."

It was a frank admission- so frank, that it took her aback. She did not know what she had expected from him, but uncertainty was not it.

"And what of your feelings for the empire?" Allura asked.

At that, all the conflict in his eyes vanished. "I _despise_ the empire."

The amount of venom in his voice was too real to be anything but the truth.

* * *

They wanted her to locate the rest of the Voltron lions.

She could understand why- Voltron had the power to stand up to the Galra Empire, to Zarkon. It was a symbol of hope, and in a war such as this, having a symbol that could be rallied around was important.

And from the sound of it, that was something they very much needed at the moment.

The rebels were losing. That they had managed to hold on for this long was a feat in and of itself, but the amount of territory that they held grew smaller and smaller each year. The Galra Empire was thriving, and the rebellion?

It was struggling.

And she wished that she could help them- really, she did! But it wasn't that _simple_. It was true that her father had connected her to the quintessence of the lions, but that didn't mean she could locate them all on her own. In order to do that, she would need both the Castle of Lions and a Balmeran crystal, neither of which she had.

She didn't even know if the Castle of Lions still _existed_.

Her only option, she knew, would be to try and communicate with the red lion. But she was not its paladin, so in order to do so, she would have to do so _through_ him.

The option was... she frowned, halting midstep. The rebels had been courteous enough to provide her with a small room, which she could not deny she was grateful for. It meant no one would have to see her like this- lost, and without direction. Altea might be long gone, a concept which she still found herself having trouble grasping, but she was nevertheless still a princess.

Princesses did not _pace_.

Not in public, at any rate.

Did she believe Keith when he said that he despised the Galra Empire? Yes, of course. She'd very little doubt that his claim was true.

Did she trust him? Not on her life.

It wasn't just the fact that he was Galra- or _half_ Galra, at any rate- or the fact that he was a pirate. It was something more than that, something that she could not quite put her finger on. Something... something about his quintessence, she supposed, that felt as if it were out of place.

She was _not_ the great alchemist her father was. She'd barely just begun her training when Zarkon had launched his invasion, seeking to claim the Voltron lions for himself. But she had the bare bones of an alchemist's education, and it was enough for her to tell that there was something about the half Galra's quintessence that was... _disrupted_ , almost.

( _Unnatural_ , some deeper part of her seemed to whisper.)

It was a disquieting notion.

She didn't even know if he'd still _be_ here, on the base. He wasn't a rebel- he may have already taken his small Earthling companion and left. Were she in his shoes, she surely wouldn't have chosen to stay herself- not when it was made _amply_ clear that almost no one wanted him here.

In fact, she'd dare say that only Te-Osh, and the taller Earthling wanted anything to do with him.

But then, he also hadn't said a word of complaint against the things that were said about him. She hadn't been able to see his eyes while all of it had been going on, but she'd been able to see his shoulders- the way that they slumped in resignation, as if he were accustomed to this sort of treatment. As if the treatment that he received from Te-Osh and the two Earthlings was the exception, and not the rule.

It... made her _pity_ him, in a strange way.

It was a feeling that she grappled with- after all, the Galra had taken so much from her. Her father, her home, her people... so why should she feel anything but contempt for one of their own?

A Galra had been a paladin of Voltron once, and look how _that_ had turned out. Why should she assume that this time would be any different?

Perhaps it would have been easier to accept were it any lion other than the red lion. It had been her father's, once.

She did _not_ trust Keith.

But perhaps, she thought, she _could_ trust their seemingly mutual hatred of the Galra Empire.

* * *

She had to admit, she really had expected that he would have left by now.

She found him in one of the hangars, lending them a hand loading supplies. This was Te-Osh's crew, she'd been told, the rebels who had come here from the borderlands.

The difference with which they treated the half Galra did not go without notice. There was no uneasy feeling here, no sense of him not being welcomed- if there was anyone keeping his distance, it was Keith himself, and not those around him.

Before she even so much as got the chance to approach him, she found herself intercepted. It was the smaller of the two Earthlings, the one whose name she did not yet know.

"Princess Allura," the girl spoke, planting her hands firmly on her hips, jerking her head up so that she could meet her eyes, "...what brings you here?"

It would seem that her earlier judgement had not been wrong- she was very clearly trying to protect her companion. Though she did not know her name, she had overheard some things about this one already- that she was a pirate, who worked in the service of Keith. For someone who had supposedly been stolen from her home world by him, she seemed to be _awfully_ defensive of the half Galra.

Not taken, then, Allura decided- but willing.

"I wish to speak with Keith, if I may." Allura told her.

"About what?" She asked, her gaze not wavering. "Anything you have to say to him, you should be able to say to _me_."

She'd wondered how such a small girl could possibly be a pirate, and she supposed she'd found her answer. What she lacked for in size, she more than made up for in spirit.

"I wish to see the red lion." Allura told her plainly. "If I were to commune with it, I might be able to shed some light on where the other four lions are located."

The girl held her gaze for a moment longer- before seeming to draw back, apparently satisfied with that answer. Turning on her heel, she switched to a language that Allura did not recognize. "Keith! C'mere a sec!"

"Yeah?" The voice that called back answered her in the same language, and she recognized it as Keith's. Perhaps these two did indeed come from the same world then. They continued an exchange in it, heedless of anyone else around them.

His mood, surely, was vastly different than from what it had been in the meeting room. He smiled as he spoke with the small Earthling, showing quite the impressive set of teeth- another Galra trait, she thought. His jacket had been tied around his waist, leaving his arms largely bare, proving what she had suspected- that the purple color of his fingers ended there, leaving the rest of him quite pale.

He truly looked to be a crossbreed between an Earthling and a Galra- and she found herself wondering how such a thing had come to pass. From what little she had heard of Earth, it was a primitive planet, whose people had yet to leave their own system. How was it that there were two of them all the way out here, so far from home? And furthermore, how had it come to pass that one of their own had produced a child with a Galra?

To the rest, he might keep himself at a distance, but to the small Earthling girl, he seemed far more open. _Friendly_ , even.

He also, she thought, looked _exhausted_.

"Princess," Keith finally spoke to her, returning to Common, "...you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes." Allura said, almost hesitating for the span of a moment, wondering if this really was a good idea. Even if he held no love for the empire, he was _still_ a Galra.

But the Galra had also once been their allies. Perhaps she should not be so quick to judge.

"Is... is the red lion here?" Allura asked.

"We left Red back on our ship." Keith told her. "Pidge said something about you wanting to use it to find the other lions?"

_Pidge_ \- so that was the girl's name. Thank goodness someone had used it, because she'd nearly been too embarrassed to ask at this point.

"I am not certain if it will work, but it is a possibility." Allura told him.

"This better not be some kind of trick to take it from Keith." Pidge frowned. " _He's_ the one who stole it back from the Galra, you know."

"You stole it from the Galra?" Allura asked. She knew, of course, that it had been in Galra hands at one point- but she hadn't known that _Keith_ had been the one to take it from them.

"I steal a lot of things from the Galra." Keith supplied, arching a brow. "Why do you think they hired me?"

"Keith here is basically the only person stupid enough to make a living off of stealing from the Galra." Pidge noted, grinning from ear to ear, seeming to elbow her companion in the side.

"You say that like you don't help." Keith shot back.

"A fair point." Pidge admitted. "But _you're_ the one who was crazy enough to make a break for it from _Central Command_."

Ah, Allura thought to herself- they had forgotten that she was here. Watching as Keith fixed his full attention on the small Earthling, she could only watch the scene unfold with admittedly, no small amount of curiosity. "Hey, I didn't have very many options, okay?"

Clearing her throat, Allura drew herself back into the conversation. "I can promise you, Pidge, that this is no scheme. If the red lion has truly chosen Keith," and she could not deny that the idea _still_ did not sit well with her, resolved though she was to accept it, "...then it is not my place to object to it."

"Well in that case, I _guess_ we could let you talk to Red." Pidge said with a shrug.

"Excellent!" Allura smiled. "How long do you suppose it will take to fetch it?"

"Oh," it was Pidge who spoke, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes, "...I don't think it will take long at all. Keith?"

"Not long at all." He echoed.

* * *

The tall Earthling had joined them, as if he was summoned just the same as the red lion had been. Hanging in the back with the smaller one, the two of them seemed to be conversing in that same strange language, and she didn't need to understand what they were saying to pick up on the fondness in their voices.

Definitely related, Allura thought, trying to bury the way it made her feel sick for home.

"So uh," and there was a strained awkwardness to Keith's tone, drawing her attention back to the here and now, "...what exactly am I supposed to do here?"

"Channel the red lion's thoughts to me." Allura stated simply.

"Uh-huh." Arching a brow, Keith tilted his head. "And how do I do that?"

"Put your hand on the lion." Allura instructed him. "And call out to it."

"Mm." With a slight frown, Keith hesitated for the span of a moment- before he placed his hand on one of the red lion's legs, closing his eyes.

Drawing in a long breath, Allura held her own hand out, hesitating for the span of a moment herself, her gaze lingering on Keith's own. Before she could change her mind, she placed it on top of his own, feeling the way it flinched underneath hers, the way his breath hitched in his throat the moment she'd touched him.

She felt a small shudder run down her spine, the contact seeming to amplify her perception, confirming beyond a shadow of doubt that the half Galra's quintessence was abnormal. Still, she buried it down, focusing on the task at hand. She didn't even know if this would work, but right now, it was the only thing that she could think of.

At first, there was nothing.

Then, a low hum in the back of her mind, a presence, not unlike one that she had felt before. Her father's visage came to her in a flash, and with the underlying fondness it brought with it, she knew that it must have come from the red lion.

After all these years, it still remembered him.

It was enough to make her heart ache, but she could not linger on it. Perhaps there would be time to mourn, to grieve, later- but right now, she had to focus.

A spark of green, a low hum. Like a stream of bubbles, the feeling of potential rose up inside of her- and seemed to drift away, carrying her gaze behind her.

There, startled by her sudden stare, was the small Earthling.

Drawing her hand away, breaking the contact, Allura turned fully on her heel, closing the gap between the two of them. Kneeling down, she cupped Pidge's chin in her hands, staring inquisitively into her eyes, as if seeking out something.

It was there! She wasn't sure how she knew, but there was no mistaking what she sensed- it was there, deep inside her, and that was enough to give her hope.

It was only when she heard the soft voice of the taller Earthling- _Matthew_ , she recalled- did she realize she was also doing something rather embarrassing.

"...why's she touching you like that?"

Drawing her hands back, Allura's face lit up, taking a few steps back. Pausing to clear her throat, she straightened her back, trying to act for all the world as if nothing had happened.

"You," she spoke, fixing her gaze down on Pidge, "...are the green lion's paladin."

A beat.

Then three voices at once.

"Oh man, yes! I get my own flying space lion!"

That was... an interesting way to speak of Voltron, but it _had_ been ten thousand years, so perhaps it would be best to let it pass.

"Wow, Flos is going to _hate_ that."

Oh dear, he was right about that. She absolutely would.

"I knew it... I knew my sister was the coolest."

Ah, see? Related. She knew it.

"Now," Allura spoke, beaming in spite of herself. How could she not? She'd just found a paladin of Voltron, and she was under her nose the whole time! "...all we have to do is find the green lion."

"I'm guessing that's the part of this that's easier said than done?" Pidge ventured.

"I am afraid so." Allura admitted. "Perhaps if I had a crystal, I would be able to channel your energy through it in order to pinpoint the green lion's location, but I am uncertain if that will work."

"I mean... it's worth a try?" Pidge said. "But where would we even find a Balmeran crystal?"

Allura blinked at that, tilting her head. "On a Balmera?"

"That's kind of the thing, princess." Matt spoke up, his expression grim. "Most Balmera have been turned into mining colonies by the empire."

Her heart sunk at that. She had never had the chance to accompany her father on any of his journeys to the Balmera, but she had heard such wonderful things about them from Coran. To think that they too, had fallen into the hands of the Galra Empire... did they know no compassion?

"That's... awful." Allura stated.

"What about the crystal on our ship?" Pidge asked, glancing over towards Keith.

"That's a Galra crystal." Keith pointed out. "I don't think using it for something like this would be a good idea. They do a whole bunch of weird cosmic bullshit to it after they yank 'em out."

Weird cosmic... what in the world did a bovine's excrement have to do with anything?

"I always just thought the reason the Galra made them glow purple was because they liked color coding." Matt admitted.

"We could always try the black market." Keith offered. "It's probably our best bet."

The black market! Leave it to a pirate to suggest something like that.

"I'm honestly just amazed that you didn't just suggest storming gung ho onto a Balmera to get one." Pidge noted, arching a brow.

...perhaps the black market _was_ a better idea, yes.

"Look, we're going to be hot for awhile, so I just thought it might be a good idea to pawn off what goods we've got now while we still have the chance." Keith pointed out.

"Hm, yeah, it is kind of getting a little crowded on the ship." Pidge observed, her brows knitting together.

"Wow, listen to my little sister, talking like a real space pirate." Matt sniffed. "I'm so proud."

"Alright then," Allura spoke up, breaking into the conversation while she still had the chance, "...so it's settled. We go to the black market."

Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at her.

" _We_?"

Undaunted, Allura stared right back.

"We."


	6. black market

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Did, uh- did anyone like, tell anyone that we were leaving with the princess? Or like, anything about the whole, go to the black market to secure a Balmeran crystal so we can use it to find the green lion plan?" Matt ventured, already getting a feeling that he wasn't going to like the answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter six is a go! Now we're getting into the thick of things, and I'm quite excited to write what's coming! Here's to hoping that it all comes out on paper as well as it plays out in my head, because in my head, what's coming in the next few chapters is pretty damn awesome. Alas, the struggles of being a writer.
> 
> Until next time!

"I think-" Matt said with a frown, as if he were not entirely convinced of what he was saying himself, "-that we may have forgotten something."

"Forgotten what, exactly?" Pidge asked. "We've got the red lion, seeing as we're currently _in_ the red lion, and we've got, you, me, Keith-" who raised his hand at the mention of his name, like he was being called on in class, "-the princess, and-"

Oh.

Three pairs of eyes turned back, fixing their gazes on the princess- before three pairs of eyes turned towards each other, each silently asking a question that they _really_ should have considered a little sooner.

"Did, uh- did anyone like, _tell_ anyone that we were leaving with the princess? Or like, anything about the whole, go to the black market to secure a Balmeran crystal so we can use it to find the green lion plan?" Matt ventured, already getting a feeling that he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Not... really?" Pidge told him. "I thought you'd said something, Matt."

"See, that's the thing, because I thought one of _you_ said something." Matt told her, before casting a hopeful glance towards Allura- who was just about realizing what they had all just collectively realized. "...princess?"

"I only told them I would be heading towards the hangar your leader's ship was located in." Allura told him, shaking her head. "Pidge?"

"Keith and I aren't used to having to tell _anyone_ what we're up to." Pidge supplied. "Space pirates, remember?"

"So what you're saying is-" Keith said, turning in his chair so that he could glance back at all three of them, "-that we just accidentally kidnapped the princess."

"Yes." Matt said. "Yes, that is exactly what the three of us just did."

"Oh, _that's_ not going to make Flos happy." Pidge said. "Matt? Any chance you can get in touch with Te-Osh?"

"I uh- I _might_ have left my transmitter back on the ship?" Matt ventured. "Everything kind of happened in a real hurry, I didn't have time to go back for it!"

"Great." Keith said. "So we accidentally kidnapped the princess with no way to let anyone know about the accidental part."

"Or the voluntary part." Allura quickly supplied, frowning when they all turned to look back at her. "Well, it _was_ my idea to come along with you all. You could hardly call that a kidnapping."

"Wow, we _really_ should have planned this better." Matt muttered. "Okay, new plan- we get back to your ship-" he said, looking between Keith and Pidge, "-and I contact Te-Osh once we get there, and explain the whole thing to her. And then we go to the black market to find a Balmeran crystal so we can find the green lion."

" _Maybe_." Pidge added. "So we can _maybe_ find the green lion."

"Right, maybe." Matt said. "And then _maybe_ the rebellion won't put all three of us on some weird black list?"

"Too late." Keith snorted. "I'm pretty sure I'm on every black list in the known universe by now."

"Aw, Keith, you're not on _my_ black list." Pidge told him.

"That's not what you said when I took the last piece of fudge." Keith reminded her.

"Oh no, it wasn't the peanut butter fudge, was it?" Matt asked. "Because if it was the peanut butter fudge, I'm surprised she hasn't like, killed you in your sleep yet."

"Trust me, I might be crazy enough to steal from the Galra Empire, but I'm not _nearly_ stupid enough to keep Pidge from her peanut butter fudge." Keith told him.

"What is... peanut butter fudge?" Allura interjected, a curious expression on her face.

"Guys, can we _maybe_ get back to the whole accidental princess kidnapping situation?" Pidge asked. "Because that's _kind of_ important."

"It's okay, I'm sure Te-Osh is covering for us right now, as we speak." Matt reassured her- then paused. "...also does this mean _I'm_ a space pirate now?"

"Well, you're apparently helping us kidnap a princess, so I guess that's as good as an initiation as you're going to get." Keith told him. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Pidge was going to ask me to make you a part of the crew anyways."

"Pretty much." Pidge said, nodding her head. "Welcome to the crew, Matt."

"So am _I_ a part of the crew then?" Allura inquired.

"No, you're the kidnapped princess." Pidge told her. "Try to keep up, princess."

"Man, the transmission home to mom is just getting wilder and wilder." Matt couldn't help but observe.

"Eh." Pidge said with a shrug. "This is actually pretty normal for us."

In the back of her mind, Allura couldn't help but wonder just what, exactly, she had gotten herself into.

* * *

"-and now you're both officially in the system!"

"So you were actually able to reprogram the empire's genetic sensors?" Matt asked, unable to help but marvel at his sister's work. "I've been dying to take one of those things apart for _ages_."

"Trust me, it _wasn't_ easy." Pidge told him, not even trying to stop herself from beaming. "And definitely not something that can be done on the fly. I had to use like, five different workarounds just to get _into_ the system in the first place, nevermind altering it so that it would keep out any unregistered profiles. Can't have the Galra stealing our ship back, can we?"

They had managed, at least, to get back in touch with Te-Osh, who had assured them that she would do what they could in their absence to explain, well, _their absence_. She'd had that kind of look on her face that gave Pidge the impression that she didn't know how well this was going to go, so it would probably be better if she hedged her bets.

Perhaps it would be for the best if they avoided returning to the way station at all. Who knew what wild theory about Keith that Flos was concocting as they spoke.

"You have _got_ to let me go over your notes sometime." Matt told her, reaching out to ruffle her hair, a distinct note of pride in his voice.

"Anything, for my best brother." Pidge told him.

"Unless mom's been keeping some secrets, I'm pretty sure I'm your _only_ brother." Matt remarked. "But I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless."

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure mom's unofficially adopted Keith." She told him, her grin make it hard for him to determine if she was being serious or not. Peeking out from around him, Pidge fixed her gaze on the aforementioned half Galra. "How'd you like a last name of your own, Keith?"

"Got one already, thanks." Keith responded from the pilot's chair, not even so much as looking back at them.

"Ah, so the cryptic back story continues." Pidge said to herself- her tone was low, but she knew Keith could hear her anyways, judging from the faint snort he let out. "Don't worry, we can always hyphenate!"

"Pass." Keith told her. "Princess done changing yet?"

"She left like, a minute ago." Pidge told him. "I don't think she can get out of that dress _that_ quickly. We're just lucky we have something on board that she can actually wear. My clothes would _definitely_ not fit."

A change of clothes for the princess had been necessity- not only would the gown she wore make her stick out like a sore thumb, it would also hinder her mobility. She was not, it seemed, at all interested in waiting around with the ship.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're the same height you were when I left." Matt observed.

"We can't _all_ have freakish growth spurts, Matt." Pidge told him, not even trying to mask her glower. He really had gotten a fair bit taller since she'd seen him last- looks like that hoodie he'd bought before leaving Earth really would fit him now. "What the hell have they been feeding you out here anyways?"

"Oh you know, space rations." Matt told her. "They're actually pretty tasty when you get used to them."

"Matt, anything you have to get _used to_ isn't actually tasty." Pidge said. "That's just the food equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome."

"Better than what they serve you in Galra prisons." Keith noted.

"Oh _definitely_ better than what they serve you in Galra prisons." Matt was quick to agree. "I'm not even sure that stuff was _food_ , so much as it was like, vaguely _food-like_."

She tried not to cringe too much at the mention- she knew that Matt had been a prisoner of the Galra Empire, it was why she'd started looking for him in the first place. But while it seemed like Te-Osh had broken him out not long after he was captured, she didn't doubt that the experience had impacted him in ways that he wasn't fully ready to talk about just yet.

That he could joke about it was... encouraging, she thought. Or at least, she hoped. Even _Keith_ sometimes cracked the odd joke about his time as a prisoner- and he'd been held for much longer than her brother, and was that much worse off for it.

"What, they don't give you a special menu at Central Command?" Pidge asked.

"If by special menu, you mean laced with _compliance drugs_ , then yes." Keith told her, his tone dry. "You get a _very_ special menu."

Crinkling her nose, Pidge turned her focus on Keith- as much as he seemed to be almost joking about it, she didn't miss the way his expression had become nearly unreadable. She hadn't exactly forgotten the starved way that he had destroyed the bag of snacks that she had brought him that first day- and suddenly it sunk into her that he had likely been eating as little as humanly possible during his time as a captive.

Christ, no wonder he'd been skin and bones. Mom had made the right call.

Opening her mouth to say something, she instead missed her chance, the sound of the door to the bridge sliding open cutting her off. Averting her gaze, she fixed it instead on the Altean princess, who seemed to have finished changing into something that was a little less attention grabbing than the Altean gown that she had been wearing before.

And more mobile, too.

"How's the fit?" Pidge asked. "Not that I'd know how to adjust it if I tried, but-"

"The fit is fine, thank you." Allura told her, giving her a soft smile. "We will be arriving at this... _black market_ soon?"

"Should be." Keith told her, sparing a quick glance back in her direction, expression once more decipherable. "You might want to keep your hood up. No offense, but an Altean is going to stick out like a sore thumb."

"Oh, like you _don't_." Pidge quipped.

"Oh, like _you_ don't." Keith repeated, eying Pidge- and damn him, he had a point.

"I can alter my appearance, if that would help." Allura told them. "Alteans are a chameleon-like race, able to blend in with local populations."

"Wouldn't advise it." Keith told her. "Some of these folks can tell when you're trying to hide what you look like, and they don't take kindly to it. Better not to start any unnecessary fights."

"Just the necessary ones, huh?" Pidge asked, arching her brows.

" _I_ only start necessary fights." Keith shot back, even as he faintly grinned. "I can't help it if every bounty hunter from here to the Javeeno system wants to pick a fight with me. What am I supposed to do, not fight back?"

"Eh, fair point." Admitting that much with a shrug, she turned back to the princess and her brother. "So? You two ready for your first outing at the black market?"

"I was _born_ ready for this." Matt assured her. "So what's the plan? We go in, look for the Balmera crystal, get out?"

"Something like that's not going to be easy to find. Most of the ones on the market are probably Galra crystals." Keith told him. "Fortunately, I think I know a guy who might be able to help us out."

"Oh no, don't tell us we're going to _Rolo_ again." Pidge said. "The _last_ time we dealt with him, he tried to make off with the red lion so he could pay off his own bounty."

"I don't think he's going to try that again, not after what I did to his ship." Keith told her- and there was a glint of amusement in those yellow eyes, as if he'd been merely playing a game back in that asteroid field. "We've come to an arrangement, since then."

"See, when you say _arrangement_ , all it does is make me nervous." Pidge told him- before heaving a sigh. "But you're probably right. Rolo _is_ pretty well connected around these parts, so if there's anyone who can help us find a pure Balmera crystal, it's him."

"Who is this Rolo?" Allura asked, a slight frown on her face.

"Former freedom fighter." Keith supplied. "He and his partners, Nyma and Beezer, mostly work as transporters for black market goods these days. Been known to do a little bounty hunting on the side. Or well, Nyma has."

"Former." Matt noted, arching a brow. "That's a word that carries a lot of weight. You said he tried to steal the red lion once?"

"Once." Keith said. "Like Pidge said, he wanted to pay off his bounty. Didn't work out too well for him."

"And you are certain you can trust him?" Allura asked.

"Not at all." Keith said with a shrug. "But he's the best chance we've got to find what we need."

"If he tries anything shifty, I'll give him a good shock." Pidge muttered, hand straying to the stun gun hanging from her hip. She _still_ didn't like the idea. She was still mad them- but most especially at Beezer, for betraying her trust like that.

"Counting on you, Pidge."

* * *

The black market was... well, almost entirely what she'd expected of it, and then some.

Which was to say, dingy and not the sort of place one would ever expect to find a princess at. While she had never been to one of the Unilu's swap moons, from the photographs that Coran had taken on one of his many expeditions to them, it gave off rather the same kind of vibe- just with a lot less natural light. Indeed, she didn't fail to notice that there were no shortage of Unilu among those gathered here.

There wasn't much shortage of _anything_ gathered here, really. There were even a few Galra, but from the looks of the way they dressed and how they carried themselves, she suspected that they had very little to do with the empire. She did, however, notice that they watched Keith with unkind eyes when he passed, catching one of them muttering something under their breath that she _knew_ was a very rude word for one of mixed blood.

Not with the empire, but not rebels, either, she thought.

The entire thing was underground- they'd needed to give a pass code to even get in through the first door, and even _that_ had been well hidden- built like some kind of labyrinth. Though she was confident in her sense of direction, she nonetheless stayed close to Pidge and Keith- if she got separated from them, she surely would have found herself quickly lost.

Not an appealing thought, in the least.

For their part, the two pirates navigated the labyrinth-like market with practiced ease, lightly conversing in that strange Earth language. They each were carrying a bag- of stolen goods, she'd gathered, but had decided not to dwell too much on where they had come from. She'd seen the insignia of the Galra Empire on no small amount of them, but not on all- clearly, stealing from Galra Empire was not their only source of income.

And these were the new paladins- two of them, at least.

Pirates. Coran would surely have a few things to say about that, were he here.

But whatever the case, it was clear to her that they had both been chosen, so she would simply have to put her faith into the lion's choice. The red and green lions- the arms of Voltron. Perhaps it was fate that had drawn them together.

If they worked this well together, it at least meant good things when it came to forming Voltron. She just had to hope that the other paladins would mesh just as well with them.

"Princess," Keith's voice caught her attention, and she raised her head, "...we're here."

_Here_ was a dingy looking shop, much like all the others. Ducking inside of it, they brushed past the main storefront, making their way down a staircase away from the main bustle of the shop. A hidden store inside of a hidden store- as expected from the black market, she thought, her nose crinkling.

"Now _there's_ a face I didn't expect to see again."

The man who greeted them must have been Rolo, Allura thought, from the glower on Pidge's face.

"Looks like you picked up a few new ones too." Rolo observed, his gaze lingering on herself, as well as Matt. Thankfully, it dwelled more on the latter- perhaps noting the resemblance between him and his sister. "Pick up a few new crew members?"

"Something like that." Keith told him, removing his bag, all but slamming it down on the table in front of him. "Got some fresh goods, if you're interested."

"I'm always interested." Rolo remarked, getting to his feet, wasting no time in going through the assortment of ill gotten gains. "Trying to dump some goods? Word on the street is that you've gone and ticked off the empire."

Had word truly spread that fast? Granted, Allura was not certain how much time had elapsed between the retrieval of her cryopod from the Galra ship, and when she had been woken up, but she didn't think it had been that long.

"Pretty sure Keith's _always_ ticking off the empire." Pidge observed. "And we're not just here to dump goods today, Rolo. We need something from you."

"Oh?" Rolo asked, arching his brows. "Always happy to help."

"Yeah, like you helped yourself to Red last time." Pidge snorted.

"Hey, I did what I had to do. Nyma and I had too much heat, we had to do something to try and shake it off." Rolo told her, lifting his hands. "Not everyone has the guts to stay so heavily out of favor with the empire like the two of you."

"We need a crystal." Keith told him, his tone curt. "Balmeran. Pure."

"A pure Balmeran crystal, huh?" Rolo asked. "What size we talking about here?"

Sensing that was a question for her, Allura lifted her hands. A smaller crystal seemed as if it would be easier to get, but it would not suit their needs as well as a somewhat larger one. "Big enough so that one would need to hold it with both hands, at the very least."

"That's a pretty tall order." Rolo observed. "The only thing harder to get your hands on would be a battleship class crystal."

"You're telling me you don't know where to find one?" Keith asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I didn't say that. Just that it might be worth more than what you've brought me today." Rolo told him, dropping his gaze downwards. "Unless you're willing to part with that luxite blade of yours, that is."

"It's _not_ for sale." Keith hissed, and Allura didn't miss the way his body tensed, the hair- _fur_ , she now realized- on his head seeming to raise.

A luxite blade? Her eyes following Rolo's gaze, they fell on his knife, sheathed behind his back. Even ten thousand years ago, such a thing would be a rarity. How was it that Keith had managed to come by such a thing, then? That he'd stolen it would be the obvious answer, but he seemed to be rather attached to it, if he was getting that defensive over the idea of selling it.

Something more personal then, she thought.

"Come on now, there's no need to get that upset." Rolo told him. "I _might_ know a guy who can get you a pure Balmeran crystal, but he doesn't take too well to Galra. Might not like one nosing around in his shop."

"Well as you can see, we've got two new crew members." Keith said, jerking his head back to indicate Matt and Allura. "So I don't think that'll be a problem."

Rolo seemed to consider this for a moment- before he shrugged his shoulders, dropping back in his chair, folding one leg over his knee. "Fair enough. Shop code's 0492-94. He can strike a pretty hard bargain, though."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that-" Pidge spoke, almost beaming, "-we can drive a pretty hard bargain too."

And somehow, Allura truly believed her.

"Hm." Tilting his head, Rolo merely arched a brow. "In that case, don't tell him I sent you."

"You keep your mouth shut, and we'll just keep that to ourselves." Pidge told him.

"Sounds like a fair deal to me." Rolo observed, before pausing, a slight frown on his face. "There is one more thing though- if the rumors _are_ true, then your bounties are about to get hot."

"Nothing new there." Keith said with a shrug.

"True." Rolo admitted. "But Nyma came across some interesting information the other day. Seems the Galra Empire has gotten itself a new bounty hunter in their employ. From the sound of it, they're pretty tough, so you might want to watch your backs, get somewhere you can lay low for awhile."

"New bounty hunter?" Keith asked, brows furrowing. "You know anything about them?"

"'fraid not." Rolo told him, shaking his head. "Just that they're the type you should steer clear of."

"Seems awfully kind of you to tell us this." Pidge observed.

"Hey, what can I say?" Rolo shrugged. "You two are interesting. Would be a shame if anything happened to you."

* * *

If she had to describe herself, she would most likely call herself a woman of science.

_Computer_ science, mostly- but science in general held a deep fascination for her. It was where she most excelled, and even if she did sometimes get called a nerd for it, she'd learned to wear it as a badge of pride. After all, it had been her brother's brains that had gotten him into the Galaxy Garrison, so why should she be ashamed of hers?

(Though in hindsight, getting into the Galaxy Garrison? _Probably_ not the best thing for him in the long run.)

In that regard, going into space was like a dream come true. Sure, the reasons behind it were the stuff of nightmares- but she couldn't deny that she spent every day surrounded by tech that was _light years_ beyond their own. It was basically the rough equivalent of being a kid in a candy shop, with all the money in the world to spend.

But every so often, she found herself running into things that didn't seem like they could be explained by science alone.

Like, for example, the red lion.

So it really shouldn't have surprised her too much that this bled over into Allura. After all, from the sound of it, the Alteans had been the ones to create the lions in the first place, so why wouldn't they follow the same basic rules?

Still, she had to admit... she'd expected something a bit more scientific than 'using a crystal to amplify vibes', which sounded exactly like some kind of new age bullshit that she'd find in one of her Great Aunt Gertrude's books.

And okay, maybe it wasn't _vibes_ , per say- the princess had called it _quintessence_. That still didn't make it any more scientific.

There was _nothing_ scientific about sitting in a circle around a strange crystal and holding hands. And yet, that was where she, Katie Holt, child of technology, found herself.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" She asked, unable to keep the doubt out of her voice.

"No."

Well, at least she was _honest_ about it. She kind of got the impression that Allura was making this all up as she went along- and honestly, she probably was. But hey, if it meant that she might be able to get a robotic flying lion of her very own, maybe she could deal with a bit of new age bullshit.

Although... from the way the lions of Voltron had been talked about, she kind of had to wonder if she was really the best choice for it. It sounded like there was some kind of heavy duty tied to being a paladin of Voltron- one that she wasn't really sure that she was ready to accept.

All she had come out here to do was find her family- not to take part in an intergalactic war. Keith despised the empire, so he might very well go along with whatever was asked of him as a paladin, if it meant taking down Zarkon. But her?

She wasn't so sure. All she really wanted to do was find her father, and bring him and her brother home.

But she wasn't _blind_ either- she'd _seen_ what the Galra Empire had done to the universe, how the people of it were struggling underneath Zarkon's reign. It would probably only be a matter of time before it turned its attention towards Earth. Who was to say that it wouldn't be within her lifetime?

"Pidge." Allura's voice broke through her thoughts, "Focus."

"Right, sorry."

Drawing in a long breath, she moved to banish her own thoughts. Allura had told her that she wanted for her to try and call out to the green lion with her thoughts- which normally was something that she would discuss as more new age bullshit, had she not seen Keith do the same thing with the red lion again and again.

Closing her eyes, she took in and let out another long breath. Even with her eyes closed, she could almost still see the glow of the Balmeran crystal, soft and warm. Keith had once explained to her how he was able to call to the red lion, even from a distance- so she found herself attempting to replicate just that.

At first, nothing.

And then...

It came to her with a gasp, such a surge of energy that her eyes snapped open, her hands slipping from Allura's. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, still faintly feeling the tingle of that energy, so strange, and yet somehow, so _familiar_.

The green lion.

She'd felt the green lion.

"Did-" She began, trying to steady herself. "Did you feel that?"

Allura opened her eyes, a soft smile on her face. "I did."

"So do you know where this _green lion_ is?" Matt chimed in- startling them both, who had forgotten that he was in the room with them.

Matt had wanted to watch the ceremony, as Allura had called it- but Keith had turned it down, claiming that someone needed to stay at the ship's controls, to keep an eye on things. It sounded strangely like an excuse, even though she knew it was true.

"I do." Allura told him, rising to her feet, with an almost impossible amount of grace. "Tell Keith to set a course for the Saltus system."

With a mock salute that she knew harkened back to his days in the Galaxy Garrison, Matt gave the princess a quick grin. "Consider it done, princess."

* * *

Across the galaxy, there was another who sensed something.

"Sire," she began, her voice impassive, "-there has been a resurgence of Altean energy. The princess has been awoken."

"Good."

There was a long pause before he spoke again, but none dared say anything in the wake of silence his words brought.

"Contact Commander Sendak."


	7. sendak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I am here to confiscate the red lion and claim the Altean princess. And to reclaim fugitive prisoner 116-5748."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, here it is, chapter seven, otherwise known as my very first attempt ever to write out a space battle. How exciting! Hopefully everything goes well! I'm a little sad that I couldn't end this chapter at the exact point I had planned originally, but it would have made it that much longer, and would go better at the start of the next chapter anyways. Get ready for some action!

"Mystic hand holding ceremony over?"

Man, he didn't even need to call out to him. Guess those big ears weren't just for show.

"You know how it is with girls." Matt joked. "Gotta get in some bonding time. But yeah, the mystic hand holding ceremony is over. Princess says to set a course for the Saltus system."

"The outskirts, huh." Keith muttered, already setting himself to work. "Lucky this thing has hyperdrive, otherwise it'd take us a lot longer to get there."

"Wait, this thing has _hyperdrive_?" Matt asked, wondering if he'd heard him right. "I thought transport ships this size didn't have them."

"You can thank Pidge for that." Keith told him, a grin of what he was damn sure was _pride_ on his face. "It's not perfect, but it's good for at least one jump every day or so. Would not recommend doing it twice, though. This ship's just not made for that kind of strain."

"Why, what happens if you use it twice?" Matt asked.

"Drains all power from the ship." Keith observed. "Including life support systems. And engines."

Unable to help himself, Matt flinched. "Yeah, let's... let's not do that, maybe."

"Don't worry, we shouldn't have to." Keith told him, glancing back towards him, a hint of a grin on his face that gave him the feeling that the only reason they'd found _that_ particular piece of information out was because they'd _already_ tried. "The Saltus system is way out on the outskirts. Even the empire hasn't spread that far yet."

"So we'll have a relaxing trip to pick up the green lion." Matt observed, dropping himself into the copilot's chair. "Nice to know."

"Staying?" Keith asked. "Thought you'd want to hurry back to your sister."

"I mean, I can leave if you don't want me here." Matt told him.

Keith seemed to consider the offer for a moment- before he simply shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself."

Watching the half Galra with a curious eye as he set the new coordinates in, Matt couldn't help but frown. He hadn't had many chances to talk with Keith alone since they'd first met, which seemed like so much longer ago than it actually was. They were going to be together for awhile now, right? He might as well and try and get to know the guy a little.

Who knew when he'd join back up with Te-Osh again? Now that he'd found his sister, he really didn't want to have to leave her- and if something was going to give, it was probably going to be him, not her.

It wasn't like he and Keith didn't have something in common- they'd both been held prisoner by the Galra Empire. Sure, he hadn't exactly been held at _Central Command_ , holy shit, he'd had never gotten out of there then, but still- it was a common link.

"So do you uh... do you ever have nightmares sometimes still?"

...wow Matt. What a question. Great opening line, A+.

Keith barely even spared him a glance, his face nearly a mask. "No."

"Oh." Matt blinked, hand straying behind his neck, rubbing it as if this would somehow subdue the awkward feeling in the air. "Well that's... that's good, I guess."

Except judging from the bags under Keith's eyes, maybe it _wasn't_ good. At first he'd thought that the low lights on the ship were just because it was easier for Keith to see with that kind of lighting- he knew that Galra eyes tended to be far more light sensitive than human eyes. But he couldn't help but wonder if at least part of it was to conceal the deep bags underneath his eyes.

He'd never seen any Galra with bags under their eyes- or any alien, for that matter. It seemed to be a very human mark of exhaustion.

Right. Okay. Time to find another topic.

"...so... you've met my mom?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. She's nice." Keith told him, flicking a switch, still not quite looking at him. "She'll be happy to hear that you're safe."

Man, what was up with this awkward feeling? He thought that they had been getting along fairly well- then again, whenever they'd talked in the past, Pidge had been around. Maybe this was just how Keith was with people he didn't know that well, without someone he did know around to put him at ease.

Or maybe he'd just asked the _worst possible question ever_ as his opening line.

"...so what's your mom like?" Matt asked- and then almost instantly regretted it. Wow! He was really setting a track record for shoving his foot into his mouth here, good job!

"Don't know." Keith told him. "Never met her."

"I- oh." Chewing on his lip, Matt could only frown. Wow, good one Matt- you're _really_ just knocking it out of the park here. "Sorry, didn't mean to ask something so personal."

"Not your fault. You didn't know." Keith said, only sparing him the slightest glance. "She's the Galra one, if you're wondering."

Perking up at that bit of information, Matt felt himself relax a little at it. Okay, so clearly he hadn't stumbled so bad that he'd caused any hard feelings. Good to know.

But that was _probably_ also his cue to stop asking questions.

"Can you make an announcement that we're going to make a jump?" Keith asked, startling him a little. "You might want to strap in. It can get a little rough."

"Oh, right, yeah, sure!" Matt said, eyes darting around the control panel, trying to make out what was what. Catching sight of a purple finger out of the corner of his eye, he followed where it pointed, quickly flicking a switch.

"This is your handsome and dashing copilot speaking," and Matt could almost swear that he caught Keith rolling his eyes at that, quite the feat for a guy with no pupils, "-we'll be making a jump into hyperdrive shortly, so please fasten your seatbelts and buckle in, because this could be a bumpy ride."

Flicking the switch off, Matt grinned over at Keith- who merely let out a faint snort.

"I'm never letting you make the hyperdrive announcement again."

* * *

"Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"We're going to have to work on your definition of a little rough."

* * *

"Princess?"

Furrowing her brow, Allura fixed her thoughts on the faint pulse of the green lion's energy she had picked up from the Balmeran crystal, before shaking her head. "No. I do not think it is on this planet either."

She could still _feel_ it, somewhere in this system for sure. Only she did not know from which planet it was coming from- leaving them with no other choice by to check them all out, one by one. Surely if they drew close enough to whatever planet the green lion rested on, she would be able to feel its pull.

"Right." Barely sparing her so much as a glance, Keith pulled the ship out of orbit from around the planet. "Onto the next one."

"You're _sure_ this will work?" Pidge asked. "I mean... I know what I felt back there, but I don't feel any of that right now, princess."

"I am fairly certain this will work." Allura told her. "I can still feel the green lion's quintessence, so I _know_ it must be in this system somewhere. It is only a matter of finding just which planet it is located on."

Pidge seemed to frown at that- it was clear to her that she did not put too much stock in her methods of detection. While it was true that nearly everything she had done up until this point was based on pure theory, she got the feeling that even were it not, the girl would still have her doubts.

Earth science, it would seem, was much harder in some respects than Altean science- which blended magic seamlessly into every aspect of it. It was not merely facts and numbers, but feelings and belief as well.

"So what is this quintessence stuff anyways?" Matt asked, peering back at her. "I thought it was just what the Galra used for fuel."

A fair question- even if it carried one of her own with it. How were the Galra still obtaining quintessence in the first place? The rift had been destroyed along with Daibazaal, ten thousand years ago. That should have cut off their only source of it- and yet, they seemed to still possess the means with which to obtain it.

She got the feeling that she would very much not like the answer.

Still, she could at the very least answer _Matt's_. It _was_ a fair question, after all.

"It is that, yes." Allura told him, inclining her head. "But it is also so much more. While I am afraid that I do not know as much about it as my father would have, and while I am almost certain that what I _do_ know is rather outdated at this point, I can at least give you the basics of it, if you would like?"

"Sounds good to me." Pidge said. "I'm kind of curious too."

Keith, she couldn't help but note, said nothing, instead staring straight ahead. Likely he already knew what it was, being Galra. That he did not supply an answer of his own, in spite of likely knowing more about it in its current form than she... she could not help but make a note of it.

_His_ quintessence was unlike anything that she had cause to feel before. Perhaps... perhaps _all_ Galra now felt this way, and Keith was merely no exception, halfbreed or not. Zarkon had been corrupted to his very core by it, who _knew_ what it had done to his people in the past ten thousand years.

But somehow, she did not think that was all it was. Part of it, yes, maybe, but not all.

"It is the essence of life itself, in a sense." Allura explained. "All manner of living things have it. You, me, the planets, the lions..."

"Wait, the _lions_?" Pidge asked. "The lions are alive?"

"Of course." Allura told her. "Very much so."

"Okay, I have _so_ many questions about that _alone_ , but go on, Princess." Pidge told her.

Yes, she supposed that would be a bit difficult to wrap ones head around, unless you'd had cause to experience it yourself. Keith, it would seem, barely so much as blinked at this piece of information. Likely he was already aware of it on some level, from his bond with the red lion.

Their bond.

When she had connected with it before, she had only been focused on the information that she could gather from it- but she had not missed the faint protective undercurrent it seemed to have in regards to its current paladin. It was different than the feeling of deep fondness it had sent her in regards to her father- but no less strong.

Likely, it too, recognized that his quintessence had become warped in some manner. Not only that, but it seemed to have sensed her own apprehension, likely frustrated that the daughter of the paladin it had once so valued did not seem to be willing to fully accept the new one that it had chosen.

"It is the essence of life, but it is also a powerful source of energy." Allura continued. "The most powerful, in fact."

She couldn't be sure of that- not after ten thousand years had passed. But surely if there was a more powerful source of energy out there, the Galra Empire would have long since switched to that instead. Under the leadership of Zarkon, the only thing they craved was power, so that they alone would be unmatched in the universe.

She would show them that there was still a power greater than them left out there. One willing to stand up and fight against them.

Provided that she managed to _find_ all the lions.

_And_ their paladins.

And the Castle of Lions, while she was at it. She would need that last part especially- that was, after all, where the black lion was.

At the very least, it did not sound as if Zarkon had been able to get his hands on it. So perhaps, somewhere out there, the Castle of Lions still existed. Maybe like her, there were other Alteans frozen away in cryopods, waiting to be awoken- though if that was the case, she had to wonder just how it was that hers had gotten so far away from the Castle in the first place.

Perhaps she had never been _in_ the Castle to begin with.

"So you can sense this _quintessence_ stuff, then?"

In all honesty, she had not expected a question from Keith.

"I- yes, I can." Allura told him, slowly nodding her head. "Since its discovery, sensing and understanding it became one of the basics of alchemist training. It was nearly all my father was able to teach me, before the war began."

She did not miss the way his brow furrowed at her answer, nor the way he averted his gaze from her. So he knew- or at the very least, _suspected_ \- that there was something wrong with that of his own.

She wanted to do nothing more than to press him with questions, but she doubted it would earn her any answers. And perhaps doing so in front of the two Earthlings was also not the best choice- so if she did confront him about it, and she _would_ , mark her words, it would be in private.

"I see." Keith said. "What about this planet, princess?"

"This planet..." Frowning, Allura traced her hands over the Balmera crystal. "No, I am afraid it is not this one either. How many more remain?"

"Three." Keith told her, keeping his tone curt. "You're _sure_ it's on one of these?"

"Quite certain." Allura told him. "Though perhaps my theory of merely needing to orbit the planet is a bit off, I will admit. We may have to set down and search them all, if I cannot pick up its traces from the remaining three planets."

"Well, at least we'll be away from the heat for awhile." Pidge observed.

At once, almost as if brought on by her words, the ship's alarms began to blare. Standing straight up, Allura fixed her gaze on the message onscreen, a chill running up her spine. "What is going on?"

Swearing viciously underneath his breath in what was surely a mixture of that strange Earth language and Galran, Keith made quick work of the controls. "Something just locked onto us."

"Something." Pidge repeated. "That something wouldn't be a _Galra_ something, would it?"

" _Something_." Keith merely repeated, gritting his teeth. "Get ready."

No sooner than had the words left his mouth, it all but seemed to emerge from open space before them. A Galra cruiser, more massive than any Allura had seen before, and certainly all the more sinister.

More than cause her dread, the sight of it made her blood boil.

"Oh man, they're hailing us." Matt whispered.

"Open the com line." Keith told him, narrowing his eyes. "Let's see what these assholes want."

"To kill us?" Pidge ventured. "I mean, that's _generally_ the theme here."

"Who knows, maybe this is the party ship." Matt whispered, half to himself, even as he opened the com line.

The screen flickered to life, the face of an imposing Galra filling it. Narrowing her eyes, Allura found herself straightening her back, not wanting to do anything less than meet this Galra head on.

"Fugitive pirates, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe."

After all this time, she finally got to see the face of the enemy, and it confirmed what she had suspected. Perhaps this _Commander Sendak_ was merely an outlier, but it would appear that in between now, and when she had been put into cryosleep ten thousand years ago, the Galran race had indeed changed.

"I am here to confiscate the red lion and claim the Altean princess." Sendak continued on. "And to reclaim fugitive prisoner 116-5748."

She didn't need to hear the way Keith's breath hitched in his throat to put two and two together, and determine that the latter was referring to him. Strange, she found herself thinking- from what she understood, the taller Earthling had once been a prisoner of the Galra as well, yet it seemed this Sendak was only interested in claiming back Keith.

Did it have anything to do with the fact that he had been held captive, apparently, in Zarkon's main fleet? She was not entirely up to speed on everything the empire had become, but from what she understood, Central Command was the name of the main fleet that was in command of the empire, from where Zarkon lead his forces.

"If you do not comply, I will be forced to destroy your ship."

The transmission cut out with that line, just in time to make out the faint growl that escaped from Keith. The hair on his head raised much like fur, he loosened his grip on the controls, jolting straight to his feet.

"Pidge, take over the controls." Keith told her. "I'll try and do something about the cruiser in the red lion."

"What, by yourself?" Matt sputtered. "Couldn't we just get away from here and come back again later?"

"No. If they know we have the princess, they might already suspect we're looking for the other Voltron lions." Keith told him, leveling his gaze on Matt. "We can't let them fall into the hands of the empire."

So he _did_ understand their importance, then. Or at the very least, he knew how powerful his own was- and dreaded the thought of the Galra Empire not only getting it back, but also another alongside it.

"Keith is correct." Allura agreed. "I do not know how they found us here, but we _must_ find the green lion before they can."

" _Rolo_." Pidge muttered underneath her breath. "That _snake_! He must have sent them our ship's most recent transmission code. I _knew_ I should have changed it before we left the black market."

"We can blame Rolo all we want later." Keith told them. "Pidge, Allura, find the green lion. Matt, you know how to fly?"

"Uh... yes?" Matt said, not sounding all that confident. " _Rebel_ ships, at least. I've never had to fly anything Galra."

"Well, you're about to get a crash course." Keith told him. "I'll distract Sendak for as long as I can. Use that time to search the remaining three planets, and get that lion."

Sliding into the pilot's chair, Pidge gripped the controls, drawing in a long breath. "Be careful, Keith. If I find the green lion, I'll come give you some backup."

"Don't worry about me. Just concentrate on yourselves." Keith told her- before pausing for a moment, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. It was almost... _tender_ , in a way, Allura couldn't help but note- and for the span of a moment, there was genuine worry that surfaced in those golden eyes of his.

Then it was gone, drawing his hand away from her shoulder, turning on his heel without so much as another word.

"Alright you two," Pidge's words caught her ears, and prevented her from following the half Galra with her gaze any longer. "Strap in. Things are going to get a little rough."

Given how much of an understatement Keith's definition of _a little rough_ had been, Allura thought it wise she do just that.

* * *

"C'mon girl, we've got work to do."

Feeling the hum of the red lion in the back of his head, Keith finally managed to exhale. He felt like he'd been holding his breath ever since he'd heard his old prisoner number being spoken, as if for a moment he was back on that ship, having never managed to escape.

_You are here_ , something seemed to rumble in the back of his mind, and he fought the urge to lean into it. It wasn't that he didn't wish to- it was that he couldn't allow himself to lose focus right now.

_Patience yields focus_ , he'd been told once.

After all this time, it still stuck with him.

So instead he drew in a breath, preparing himself to launch. Bringing up the com line to the bridge, he wore his face like a mask, not wanting to risk giving too much away. He didn't know about Matt or Allura, but Pidge had picked up the trick of reading his pupilless eyes quickly, so he couldn't afford to let too much slip.

"As soon as I engage the enemy, I want you to head for the next planet." He told her. "I'll try and draw as much as their fire as I can, but be prepared to evade and return fire, if you need to. Find the green lion as fast as you can, so we can get out of here."

He'd stopped believing in any kind of god a long time ago, but right now, he could only thank that same nebulous concept that he'd taught her how to fly.

"What's your plan for getting out of here?" Pidge asked, her expression grim, even as he knew she was already moving to open the hangar bay.

"Sink the cruiser with Red's railgun, and get away from this system as fast as we can. I know a few routes out of here that we can lose any pursuit with." Keith told her, a hint of a wry grin on his face. "And hope they haven't called for any backup."

The railgun was powerful, but it drained energy from the red lion with every shot, so it was best not to rely on it too much. He had no idea if Sendak's ship would be the only one, so he didn't want to risk using it until they were ready to make their escape.

"Understood. Good luck out there, Keith."

Drawing in a long breath, he shut off the com line's visuals for now, leaving it open. Grip tightening on the red lion's controls, he waited for the hangar doors to open, before he launched. Somewhere within him, he could feel his blood begin to boil, itching in anticipation for the battle that was to come.

He'd always carried that with him, for as long as he could remember, but now he knew what it was- _bloodlust_. Even before he had _known_ he was Galra, he'd always been Galra. It had always been with him.

Might as well put it to good use.

Just one lion against an entire Galra cruiser- not odds that he hadn't faced before. Only he didn't have the advantage of them not knowing he was coming this time- and he had something to actually protect.

Some part of him held out hope that with two of the things that Sendak desired here, it would distract him long enough for the others to get away, to find the green lion- if it was really here. He didn't have any reason to doubt what the Altean princess said, she knew more about this stuff than he did, but even if he managed to sink the cruiser, they couldn't stay here.

They didn't have the luxury of scanning the system, planet by planet, on foot. Fucking _Rolo_. Next time he saw him, he'd have remind him of the exact terms of their deal.

No sooner than he had launched, did Sendak make the decision to engage. Fine by him, bring it on, you fluffy bastard.

He sunk the first fighter before it even left the hangar, bursting into a fiery explosion and taking the one that launched after it with it. Pidge had already pulled the ship away, headed for the next planet. It wasn't something that escaped Sendak's notice, and it would seem that his desire for the Altean princess was great too- because some of the fighters split away from the main pack, going after them.

Swearing underneath his breath in a haphazard mixture of English and Galran, Keith gunned after them with the red lion, managing to take out a pair of them with its lasers, before he was struck by fire from the rest of the fleet. If he focused on them, he'd leave himself open to the rest- not to mention Sendak's ship, which for now, was staying in place.

He couldn't lead it, or the rest of the fighters to them.

Sendak's ship, with its ion cannon. If it fired, it would do way more damage to their ship than any of the fighters would do. It _did_ have a particle barrier, but it would probably only last through one shot, and after that, they'd be defenseless.

"Pidge, you've got a group of fighters on your tail." Keith informed her, turning the red lion around and lashing out at the closest fighter, shredding it with Red's claws. "Four, coming in hot. I can't tail you. Going to try and disable the Sendak's ion cannon from here."

"Understood. Taking evasive maneuvers."

A crackle of static.

"Don't get yourself killed, Keith."

"Don't worry." Keith grinned, evading a shot. "Wasn't planning on it."

* * *

Jerking the controls hard to the right, Pidge gritted her teeth, the lasers skirting just past them. She'd already thrown up the particle barrier, but the less damage it took, the better. The four fighters on their tail were proving themselves hard to shake, nevermind _hit_.

"No, no, the button on the _left_ , Matt!" She cried out, barely sparing her brother a glance. "Press the button on the left!"

"I'm on it, I'm on it!" Matt cried, finally pressing the right button, muttering _this would be so much easier if they weren't all in_ _ **Galran**_ under his breath. The monitor that controlled the weapons system finally sparked to life, just as Pidge jerked the ship away from another round of laser fire. "Okay, got em! You focus on piloting, sis, I'll try and get these fighters off our back!"

"Great, thanks!" Pidge told him. "Allura, you got anything yet?"

"I am sorry Pidge, but I do not think it is on this one either!" Allura called back.

Biting back a curse, Pidge all but yanked the ship out of orbit. Sure, she could pilot in a pinch, but was her emergency handling at all smooth? No, not in the least! She had no idea how Keith managed it, he'd never managed to pass on the trick.

God, she hoped he was doing okay. She knew he was prone to taking risks in the heat of battle, _victory or death_ and all that jazz, but as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't have the time to worry about him right now. She was a little busy worrying about herself here at the moment!

"Okay, next planet!" Pidge called out, already readying the coordinates. "Matt, where are with those fighters?!"

"One down, three to go!" Matt called out. "Leave worrying about the fighters to me. You and the princess concentrate on finding what we came here for!"

"Hopefully it's actually _here_." Pidge grumbled under her breath. Look, she knew what she felt, and all of the princess' weird energy theories had been right thus far, but that didn't mean she was infallible.

She was _definitely_ making it all up as she went along, she was sure of that now.

"Alright, coming into orbit of the next planet! Matt, fighters?" Pidge called out, dropping the ship down into the orbit of the next planet, only taking a brief moment to marvel at how vividly _green_ it was.

"Hold on..." Eyes narrowed in focus, Matt fired the ship's laser, his teeth flashing in a white grin. "Second fighter down! Two left!"

"Good to hear!" Jerking her head to the right, she fixed her gaze on Allura. "Princess, you feel anything?!"

"I- yes!" Something seemed to spark in the princess' eyes as she spoke, almost seeming to lurch forward. "The green lion is here, I am certain of it!"

"Alright, we're going in then!" Pushing the controls forward, she broke through the planet's atmosphere, a vivid green forest world spreading out underneath them. Even if nature _was_ her thing, she didn't have the time to marvel at it. "Matt, I'm going to need you to take over the controls. Princess, you're coming with me!"

"I- Katie, where are you going?" Matt seemed to sputter, even as he got to his feet. "I can't pilot this ship and return fire at the same time!"

"Then don't!" Pidge told him. "Just evade! Princess, can you pinpoint where the green lion's energy is coming from?"

"I can certainly narrow it down a fair bit." Allura told her, already getting to her feet. "From there, you should be able to pick up on its energy. It will guide you the rest of the way."

That _still_ sounded like a load of new age bullshit to her, but she didn't have that many options at the moment. The situation was not good- they hadn't had contact with Keith since he'd told her that there were fighters on their tail. If she were able to get the green lion, she could go back there, and lend him a hand.

"That'll have to do!" She said, releasing her straps, hands still gripping the controls. "Matt, take over! Princess, get to the hangar!"

"Right, on it!" Grabbing the controls from her and planting himself in the pilot's chair, Matt buckled himself in with one hand, just barely returning his full grip to them in time to avoid a too close bit of laser fire. "Be careful, Katie."

The situation couldn't be more tense, but in the span of that moment, she couldn't help but allow herself a fond smile. She'd only just found her brother, so she sure as hell didn't intend to go anywhere anytime soon.

They'd find their father together, and survive to bring him home.

"Be careful yourself, flyboy."


	8. green lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swallowing, as if to swallow back all of her residual nerves with it, Pidge took a step forward, and then another. Walking speed became a run- and before she knew it, she was mounting the steps of the temple, barely having the time to register the lion carvings that glowed green as she passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, here's chapter eight! I actually rewrote this one like, three times, so that's a thing that definitely happened. Sometimes you can nail em in one go, and sometimes you just can't, and that's just how life works out in the end. Anyways, as always, thanks for reading, and until next time!

Grunting, Pidge stumbled on her feet as the ship was pitched forward, barely able to grab the handhold in time to keep herself from falling flat on her face.

How Allura managed, she'd never know. The Altean princess didn't so much as lose her balance as the ship violently rocked, barely batting an eye as it pitched underneath their feet. It might have just been a princess thing, but Keith had impeccable balance too, so maybe it was just an alien thing.

"Would it kill you to keep this thing steady, Matt!?" Pidge yelled, much louder than she actually needed to.

"I'm _trying_!" Matt's voice came over the com link. "I've never flown this type of ship before!"

"Well try harder!" She shouted.

Okay, granted, it wasn't _all_ Matt's fault, she knew. This ship just wasn't _made_ to fly at this kind of sustained speed for so long- it would have been tricky for anyone, much less someone who had never flown this type of transport before. The fact that they were trying to outpace a pair of fighters, which had a top speed that was much faster than that of their own, was doing them no favors at all.

Keith could probably do it, but then again, Keith was also _completely insane_ , so comparing him and any normal person was just outright unfair.

So much for a relaxing trip to pick up her lion, she thought to herself.

_Her_ lion. She was still trying to wrap her head around the whole idea. Part of her was _thrilled_ \- ever since she had first flown in Red with Keith, she'd wanted the chance to be able to fly something just like it. But that was before she knew what the lion was, before she knew what kind of destiny it carried with it.

Maybe to the rest of the universe, Keith was as terrible a choice for a paladin as you could get- but she knew better. No, when it came to the two of them, the choice that sounded more like a joke was _her_. She was no pilot! Sure, she could _fly_ , and sure, she'd always wanted to be a pilot, but she wasn't the kind of natural at it that Keith was.

Not to mention, she hadn't even come out here to fight a war. All she wanted was to find her father, and go home- that was it.

But here she was, on her way to find the green lion of Voltron, to embrace what apparently was her destiny.

(If her father and brother getting captured by a ten thousand year old alien empire was part of that destiny, she was going to file a protest. Or at the very least, send someone a strongly worded letter.)

If she hadn't felt what she had when she'd connected with Allura... then maybe she would still doubt it. But although she couldn't explain it, she _knew_ what she had felt then had been the green lion's energy- its quintessence.

She had called out to it, and it had called back.

Just like Keith calling to Red.

Or well, probably. She'd never know for sure, not unless she got the chance to get into Keith's head.

Which... yeah, unlikely.

The ship jerked forward again, and she gritted her teeth, nails digging into the handhold. Dragging her gaze towards Allura, she tried to shift her weight, cursing her small frame and hoping that maybe she could find a position that wouldn't have her being nearly thrown off her feet every time the ship so much as made a sharp turn.

"I don't mean to rush you, princess, but if you could maybe hurry it up with the whole energy sensing thing?" Pidge asked.

"I am trying, Pidge." Allura told her. "But I have never done something like this before."

"Yeah, we've all kind of gathered that." Pidge said, her tone probably a lot more dry than it needed to be. But who could blame her? This wasn't exactly a walk in the park here!

Just then, the ship pitched forward violently, and with a loud yelp, she lost her grip on the handhold. Pitching forward, Allura wasted no time in throwing herself forward, catching her with one arm before she managed to tumble right out of the hangar's open hatch.

"Are you alright?" Allura inquired, helping her right herself.

"I've been better." Pidge remarked, grabbing the handhold again. "Matt, _steady_!"

"Sorry, sorry, we just took a hit!" Matt told her, his voice crackling over the com link. "No big deal, skirted off the particle barrier, but man, these guys are persistent!"

"They tend to be that way, yeah!" Pidge called back, casting a glance over towards Allura, giving her a strained smile. "Princess, _anything_?"

"I... believe so." She said after a moment, frowning as she seemed to consider her own words. "Is there perhaps a river somewhere on this planet? Wherever the green lion is, I can sense water nearby, and quite a bit of it."

"A river?" Matt responded. "Yeah, big one, too! Want me to head in that direction?"

"If you could, please." Allura told hm.

"So what, we'll just follow the river until we zero in on the green lion?" Pidge asked. "Because that would be a great plan if we were leisurely taking our time here, but in case you haven't noticed, we've got two fighters on our tail-"

"-one!" Matt supplied over the com link. "Managed to shoot one down!"

"- _a_ fighter on our tail," she continued, "-and Keith is facing down a whole _fleet_ of them. _Alone_."

"M'not dead yet." Keith's voice crackled over the com link, and as if to illustrate her point, she was damn sure she could hear a cacophony of laser beams in the background.

"Believe me, Pidge, if I had a faster method, I would use it in a heartbeat." Allura told her. "I wish to assist Keith as much as you do."

_Do you?_ She couldn't help but think. _Do you really?_

Because she wasn't stupid- she'd seen the way Allura looked at him when she thought that nobody was watching her. Oh sure, she didn't seem to be under the impression that the princess actively _hated_ Keith- she doubted that she would give him the time of day were that true- but she was definitely _wary_ of him.

It wasn't that she couldn't understand where she was coming from. The Galra had taken literally everything from her- her home, her people, even her own father- a feeling that she could sympathize with all too well. So to have a piece of her people's legacy in the hands of one of them, even a halfbreed... it wasn't so unrealistic that she would have apprehensions about it.

But it still didn't change the fact that it wasn't _fair_.

That was judging Keith based on the actions of his race- not on those of his own. The Keith she knew would never go along with the Galra Empire- and not just because he hated it, which god, did he ever, but because he had something they didn't- a moral backbone. A sense of right and wrong.

"You know, you should be able to sense the green lion too." Allura told her, her voice jerking her from her thoughts. "If you call to it, I am certain it will call back."

"I don't know about that, princess." Pidge told her, lips twisting into a frown. "I'm more about hard facts and numbers."

"So I have gathered." Allura observed, a twitch of a smile to her lips, looking unfazed even as the ship lurched sharply to the right. "But you were able to do it before. And it is your lion, so in all likelihood, you should be able to sense its presence far better than I could ever hope to."

"Look, we both know last time was different." Pidge told her. "And I know what you _think_ you sense in me, and maybe you're right- I mean, you are a princess after all, so you're probably right, but I'm not-"

"Pidge." Allura stopped her. "It was the red lion that sensed the spark of it in you. And it would have cause to know you far better than I. You should have faith in it- and in yourself as well, for that matter."

"Yeah, sis," Matt's voice piped up, and it was only then that she remembered that Matt was currently able to hear everything they were saying. _Damn com link_. "It's like what dad always says. If you get too caught up in worrying about what could go wrong, you might miss the chance to do something great."

Her father's words, his favorite phrase.

How long had it been since she'd last heard it?

Not since he'd left for Kerberos, which felt like a lifetime ago. In some respects, it _was_ a lifetime ago.

But just like they always had, even if he wasn't the one saying them, they calmed her down. How was she ever going to find him, if she backed out here?

Maybe together with Voltron, she could do what she had been yet unable to do. If she had to tear the Galra Empire apart to find him, then she'd do it, without hesitation.

"You're right." She said, nodding her head. "I'll try, princess."

"That is the spirit." Allura told her, giving her a firm nod of her head. "And you may call me Allura, you know. I might be a princess, but I am not _your_ princess."

"Allura." Pidge said, testing out the name. Yeah, that was... that was definitely better. She'd never been much of one for formality to begin with, something which her past half year of space piracy had done nothing to help.

Drawing in a long breath, Pidge closed her eyes. Drowning out the way the ship rocked and pitched around her, she tried to recall the sensation that she had felt before. It bubbled up within her, that alien, yet somehow strangely familiar energy that had called out to her across galaxies, responding to that of her own.

So she called out to it once more.

This time, it came at once, sending a vision back to her. A stone temple, one that had all but been absorbed back into the jungle in which it sat, so long ago that the vines that engulfed it look as if they were always meant to be there, flanked at its entrance by two stone lions.

And something deep within, waiting for her.

_I am here_ , it said. _Come_ , it said.

Snapping her eyes open, she let out a gasp of breath, hand gripping onto the handhold all the tighter. Swallowing, she fought back the urge to shudder, though not, she thought, in a bad way- before she righted herself, steadying the pounding of her own heart.

The green lion.

_Her_ lion.

"I think... I think I know where it is."

"That's wonderful, Pidge!" Allura told her, her smile growing bright. It was so genuine, it nearly hurt. "See? I knew you had it in you."

"That's great, sis!" Matt chimed in. "Now if you could maybe fill _me_ in on that part, that would be even greater."

"Well, I mean, I don't know where it is _exactly_ , it's more of a feeling, but-" Pidge began. "...I think it's at the mouth of the river?"

"So basically, keep following the river until we get to the end of that, and hope we're not going in reverse." Matt remarked. "Yeah, okay, good plan, I can do that."

Ah, stressed sarcasm. She knew it well.

"How is the situation with the fighter?" Allura asked- and just as if it wanted to prove it was still back there, the ship rattled again, a burst of laser fire just skirting off the edge of the particle barrier. "Ah."

"Yeah, yeah, he's still there." Matt said. "Just- just hold on for a second, I've got an idea."

Oh, she did _not_ like the sound of that- she knew that tone he was using. It had gone from stressed sarcasm to _this is probably a bad idea but I'm going to do it anyway, damn it_. Using both hands to grab onto the handhold, she didn't miss the way that Allura almost seemed to follow her cue. Maybe the hyperdrive jump had gotten to her more than she'd first thought.

_Hold on_ was right, as it turned out. As if his own words had given him inspiration, Matt pulled the ship into a hard reverse- using not it's weapons, but the ship itself to take down the fighter that was still in hot pursuit.

It was such a ridiculous move that the sentry probably wasn't even programmed to counter it, and if the ship were smaller, it probably wouldn't have even _worked_. If it weren't for the particle barrier, the explosion that rocked the ship would have likely torn a hole its hull. And while she was pretty sure both of those points had doubtlessly occurred to her brother, neither of them had done anything to stop him.

Ugh. Maybe Keith's crazy was _infectious_.

" _Phew_ , that was a close one." And she could almost visualize Matt wiping sweat from his brow. "Alright, we're all clear down here. Proceeding to locate the drop zone."

"Roger that." Keith's voice came in over the com link. "I'll try to keep Sendak from sending any more fighters your way, but no promises. So yeah, you might wanna hurry up with the whole drop zone business."

"Copy that!" Matt replied. "I'll come give you some backup once I drop these two off. Pidge, you got that?"

"We're _all_ on the same com link, so yeah." Pidge pointed out. "I got that."

"Right, right, just making sure." Matt told her. "Alright, I think I can see the mouth of the river coming up. Uh, have I been going in the right direction or do I like, need to turn this ship around again, because I can-"

"No." Pidge cut him off. Exchanging a glance with Allura, she almost hesitated for a moment- before the Altean princess nodded her head, giving her an encouraging smile.

So she could feel it too.

"This is it."

* * *

There really _was_ a temple.

She'd almost been expecting to find out that it wasn't real, that she had merely imagined what she had seen. But it _was_ real- the temple was real, down to every last detail, every bit as overgrown as she had pictured it.

And the low rumble in the back of her mind... that was real, too.

Drawing in a long breath, Pidge exchanged a glance with Allura.

"It will be fine." She said. "Go. The green lion is waiting for you."

Swallowing, as if to swallow back all of her residual nerves with it, Pidge took a step forward, and then another. Walking speed became a run- and before she knew it, she was mounting the steps of the temple, barely having the time to register the lion carvings that glowed green as she passed.

She had called to it, and now it was calling to her.

Inside the tangle of vines, she could sense it- and when one massive, golden eye flared to life within them, she felt a tingle run up her spine- one of excitement, anticipation. It was as if all of her hesitation had cleared away at once, vanishing into the ether, as if it had never existed.

This was her lion. _Hers_.

She was the green paladin.

Drawing in a long breath, a triumphant smirk on her face, she leapt forward into the vines, where her partner waited.

Now was the time to show the Galra Empire what Katie Holt was really made of. They'd taken her family from her- and damned if she wasn't going to make sure that they'd regret it.

In the back of her mind, the green lion roared.

* * *

The sensation of flying the green lion was like nothing she had ever experienced.

It was enthralling, _exhilarating_ , the controls seeming to hum underneath her touch. In the back of her mind, the green lion let out a low rumble, showing her without words what it was that she needed to do, guiding her like a patient teacher who had known her all her life.

It was incredible.

By the time she remembered Allura, landing the green lion to allow her to enter the cockpit, she was all but beaming from ear to ear. If there had been any lingering doubts, they had been banished the moment she had touched the controls, the lion almost seeming to shift to accommodate her small frame.

It must have shown on her face, because Allura didn't even ask. She could not say the same for the Altean princess- there seemed to be a rather complex array of emotions playing out over her face, as she stepped foot into the green lion.

Nostalgia, she thought, but also a great sense of loss, a deep sorrow. Perhaps she was recalling the one who had piloted it before her, mourning their loss, fresh and new. Perhaps it had yet to truly strike her, up until this moment, that they- whoever they had been- were truly gone. Beyond that, she couldn't even begin to guess at what the princess was feeling right now.

Pushing it from her mind, she instead focused her attention on the task at hand. Now that they had the green lion, they would be able to get out of here. She could contact Keith and-

No sooner than she had thought that, did a display screen pop up on one side of the lion, nearly startling her. It took her a moment to process that the person on the other side of the screen was Keith- whose expression shifted from that of a fierce battle grin, to one of marked confusion as he took notice of it on his end.

"Wha- _Pidge?_ "

"Yup, it's me." Unable to help herself, she grinned. "Looks like our lions can connect to each other."

And marked confusion quickly became clear understanding- and with that, the battle grin returned. "Understood."

"Catch you soon." She told him, the screen popping out of existence just as suddenly as it had appeared. Drawing in a long breath, she steadied herself, feeling the low rumble of the green lion in the back of her mind, softly telling her what to do.

And did it.

The green lion broke through the atmosphere of the jungle planet with a roar, flying faster than she had ever flown before. It wasn't long before she caught sight of the Galra cruiser- just in time to watch it's hull be torn apart by the red lion's railgun.

On his end of the com link, she could just make out Matt's exclamation of _holy shit_. A perfectly understandable reaction to what had become their trump card.

(She couldn't _wait_ to find out what her own lion's trump card was. It had to be something super cool.)

It sank, a fiery explosion ripping the ship in half.

See ya later Sendak, she barely knew you, and couldn't say that she was sorry to see your purple ass go.

"Alright," Keith's voice came over the com link- the normal one, this time, "-let's hurry up and get out of here. The longer we stay here, the bigger the chance is that they'll send someone else after us. Matt, open the hangar bay doors to let us in. You might want to change the ship's transponder code while you're at it."

"Hopefully we both fit." Pidge observed. "We might need to invest in a bigger ship."

The visuals on Keith's end hadn't come back again, their communications still audio only, but it was easy to imagine his nose scrunching up with displeasure. "Matt?"

"Don't ask me, this ship is already bigger than anything the rebels have." Matt told him. "Hangar bay doors are open, by the way. According to my readings, you _should_ both fit. It just might be a little tight."

"So I guess finding all five lions is out." Pidge remarked, arching a brow. "Unless we want to steal something even bigger."

"I always have kind of wanted to steal one of those cruisers." Keith remarked.

"Is that like, a thing that we could actually _do_?" Matt asked. "Because oh man, I am _so_ up for stealing an entire Galra cruiser."

"Do we really need to _steal_ anything?" Allura interjected, making a valiant effort at trying to play the voice of reason. "Perhaps we could simply search for the Castle of Lions instead."

"Okay, first of all, we're _pirates_ , so stealing is kind of what we do." Pidge pointed out, glancing back at her. "And second of all- what's the Castle of Lions?"

"The Castle of Lions was my father's flagship." Allura told her. "It had a hangar for each Voltron lion. Not only that, but should we manage to find it, I should be able to locate the remaining three lions with far more ease than we located the green lion here. It could become a valuable asset to the rebellion."

"Sounds convenient." Keith remarked. "Any chance you know where it is?"

"No. Only that it is unlikely to have fallen into Zarkon's hands." Allura admitted, shaking her head. "I had been hoping that the red lion would be able to tell me where it was located, but that did not seem to be the case. Perhaps the green lion...?"

Realizing that the question was directed at her, Pidge jumped a little. Right. When Allura had spoken to the red lion, she'd needed to do so through Keith- and she was the green lion's paladin, so it made sense that if she wanted to ask it a question, she'd have to do so through her.

"How about it, girl?" Pidge asked.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, like a spark had ignited, space itself seemed to warp. For the span of a moment, she felt herself tense, wondering if yet another Galra cruiser was about to leap out at them- only to find herself drawing in a sharp breath, almost in awe of what she saw.

"Is that... is that a wormhole?" She heard Matt whisper.

"It is!" Lurching forward, Allura's eyes shown in wonder- wonder, and _hope_ , sparkling vivid and bright. "One created by a teludav, no less!"

"Teludav?" Keith asked, his voice uncertain, as if unfamiliar with the word. "Are you saying we should go _through_ that thing, princess?"

"Yes!" Allura insisted. "It _must_ lead back to the Castle of Lions."

_Home_ , the green lion seemed to rumble, a deep sense of longing filling her chest, one that she recognized as not being that of her own, and she wondered if Keith could feel it too.

"I think she's right." Pidge said. "At least- that's what my lion seems to be telling me. Keith?"

"I- I don't know." He admitted, and she couldn't help but frown- though he tried to mask it, she didn't like the tone that she picked up on in his voice. "Red's not telling me anything like that."

She didn't miss the slight way that Allura's grip on the back of her chair stiffened at that. Narrowing her eyes, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd decided to take that as a sign that Flos had been right- that Keith was no paladin after all.

Bullshit, she knew. Total and complete bullshit.

"So are we going through the wormhole or not?" Matt asked.

"Keith?" Pidge asked.

"This is your call." His tone was... strangely curt, guarded, and she could tell without needing to see his face that something was clearly on his mind. It wasn't hard to guess what, she was wondering it herself. Why did only _her_ lion know where to go, when his didn't?

Maybe it had, once. But if it had found itself in the hands of the Galra Empire, then there was a chance it could have made the choice to erase any such knowledge from its memory. From the way Allura spoke about it... there had to be something _more_ to it than it just being her father's flagship.

Perhaps there was something on the Castle of Lions that Zarkon could not be allowed to find. Or perhaps the Castle itself was something that would be dangerous if allowed to fall into enemy hands.

That was her line of thought- but she _knew_ Keith, and she knew that whatever he was thinking, it probably wasn't that. Oh, he'd probably considered it- but he'd probably also just as quickly dismissed the idea, instead defaulting to something far darker, more full of self-loathing.

They could talk about it later, she thought- that is, if she could get his stubborn ass to _talk_. Getting Keith to talk about his feelings was like trying to draw blood from a stone.

She thought of him as a friend, but she could never quite tell what he truly thought of her. Though he was at ease with her, having become a familiar constant in his life, she could tell that there were still plenty of walls up between the two of them.

Walls that she had no idea how to even begin breaking down.

"Alright," she spoke, gripping the controls of her lion tight, sensing that he was still waiting for an answer, "...let's go."


	9. castle of lions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His life seemed to be all about hairpin turns. Just when he thought he'd gotten a handle on things, that everything had settled down, something would happen, and everything would change again, never giving him enough time to find his footing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, I come to you rather exhausted this evening as I didn't end up sleeping well last night, but that's neither here nor there. Here is the next chapter, in which he comes, the character you have all been waiting for- Coran, Coran, the gorgeous man! As always, thanks for reading!

"Good to see you back in one piece, Keith."

Barely sparing a glance in Matt's direction, Keith merely flopped into the co-pilot's seat. "You change the transponder code?"

"Done and done!" Matt told him. "The Galra shouldn't be able to track us again."

"Good." Folding his arms in front of his chest, Keith narrowed his eyes, watching as they drew closer to the strange wormhole. He had returned the red lion to the hangar, reducing the number of ships that they would need to take through it. He didn't like the idea of them getting separated.

With the green lion out in front, their ship followed behind in tight formation. For a moment, he feared that the wormhole would collapse the instant the green lion passed through- but it remained open just long enough for their ship to slip in after it.

He trusted Pidge, but he still wasn't thrilled about this idea. There was a saying back on Earth, to not look a gift horse in the mouth, but he wouldn't have survived this long were it not for the fact that he was a paranoid little shit, so he didn't plan on changing his tune anytime soon.

The trip through the wormhole was short, a mercy, since he found that he'd been holding his breath throughout it. Once they came out the other end, Keith exhaled, gaze fixing on the planet that lay before them.

No Galra ships.

Leaning back in the co-pilot's seat, Keith planted his feet on the console, studying the planet with masked interest. Sparing a glance over towards Matt, he tilted his head. "Coordinates?"

"Checking them now." Matt told him, sparing him a glance, gaze briefly drifting towards his feet. "Should you really be...?"

"My ship." Keith told him.

Matt paused, giving him a shrug of his shoulders. "Fair enough. According to the ship's data, it looks like we're in the Javeeno system."

The com link crackled, and reaching out a hand, Keith brought up the communication screen, Pidge and Allura's images leaping out at them. Exchanging a brief glance with his partner, Keith forced himself to give her a small smile.

"Looks like the green lion wants to land on this planet." She told them. "It keeps saying something about home."

_Home_. He didn't doubt what the green lion was telling her, but the fact that his own lion didn't seem to know anything... it bothered him more than he was ready to let on.

Dropping his feet from the console, he pushed aside such thoughts, bringing up a holoscreen. "Scanning the planet."

"According to this, it's called Arus." He told them, yellow eyes darting back up towards them. "Doesn't seem like there's any Galra presence here."

"Good." Allura said, her tone curt. "Let us hope it stays that way."

Letting out a faint snort, Keith folded his arms in front of him, arching a brow. "Too late."

For the span of a moment, Allura looked as if she did not know what he meant- before her eyes locked with his, her brow furrowing. He couldn't tell if she had managed to forget that she was traveling with a Galra, or if she had just put it from her mind.

Out of sight, out of mind. He wished _he_ had that luxury.

"Yes, well," she began, clearing her throat, "- _hostile_ Galra presence."

He'd almost be touched, were it not for the sharp edge to her voice. But it was fair- he didn't exactly expect the princess to trust him. It would be stranger if she did.

"Seems like my lion," and in spite of his own doubts, he couldn't help but smile at the confidence with which Pidge spoke those words, "-knows where to go."

She deserved this, he thought.

Flos was right- _he_ didn't.

"Roger that." Keith told her, once more burying his own feelings. "We'll follow your lead."

"So, any chance you want to take over?" Matt ventured, glancing over towards him. "I mean, this _is_ your ship and all."

"Hey, I just got out of a life or death situation." Keith pointed out. "Besides, you seem to be handling it just fine."

"Uh, just for the record, we were _all_ just in that situation." Matt said.

"I know." Keith told him, propping his legs back up on the console.

"Don't bother, Matt." Pidge chimed in. "And c'mon man, don't put your boots up on the console. Those things take _forever_ to clean!"

"My ship." Keith repeated.

"Okay, but _you're_ the one who'll have to clean it." She told him.

Narrowing his eyes, Keith leveled his gaze with hers- before letting out a faint grunt. She had him there- he _hated_ cleaning, and she damn well knew it too. Dropping his feet down from the console, he spread out his hands, giving her a silent expression of _there, you happy?_

And she was. That smug little smirk of hers, she was damn well pleased with herself.

Closing his eyes, he drowned out the idle chatter of the Holt siblings.

His life seemed to be all about hairpin turns. Just when he thought he'd gotten a handle on things, that everything had settled down, something would happen, and everything would change again, never giving him enough time to find his footing.

And now, here he was, on the cusp of making another radical change.

Him? A paladin of Voltron?

It was so... it almost made him want to laugh, long and bitter. Because that couldn't be right.

He loved the red lion. It was so... he didn't know how to describe it, not really. There was a warmth to it, a _comfort_ , the kind that he hadn't felt in a long time, not since his dad had passed away, not since he'd been _taken_.

It was a dangerous feeling. It was so easy... _too_ easy to feel like it would be a constant in his life, but he knew- he knew that for him, there was no such thing. Everyone left- and when they didn't, he did.

Even if not by choice.

" _We have discovered something that may be of interest to you, lord."_

Biting down on his lip, he fought away the unbidden memory, a chill seeping into his bones. He didn't want to think about that, didn't want to recall the day he had been _taken_.

The day his illusion of being human had shattered.

He wondered if his father would even recognize him now, were he still alive.

Would _Shiro_?

Shiro.

God, Shiro.

All this time, he thought he was safe, back on Earth. To find out that he wasn't... it had been such a shock, that it was a wonder he hadn't shut down right there.

If it had been an accident, an _illness_ of some kind... maybe he could have handled that. It would still hurt- god, how would it not? He'd allowed him to become important to him, against his better judgement. But no, he'd been taken.

Taken by the same ones who had taken him.

By his own kind, his own people.

Feeling his claws press into his skin, the thick leather of his jacket preventing them from digging into his flesh, Keith couldn't help but grimace. He kept them trimmed as much as possible, but there were limits. Pidge's mom had caught him once, desperately trying to file them down into rounded tips again, just wanting to take back at least one small part of his lost humanity.

It had been stupid, he knew. They were _claws_ , not nails, and claws had nerve endings- not to mention _blood vessels_.

He was probably just lucky that she caught him after the first two, because otherwise he probably would have bled to death on her bathroom floor. Hell of a way to repay her generosity, letting him be a house guest and all.

She had never mentioned a word of it to Pidge, for which he was grateful. He didn't... he hated showing his weak side to people.

He left, that time, before he could allow himself to get attached. Bringing Pidge with him had _not_ been part of the plan. But the determination that she held to find her family... how could he refuse her, when he wanted to do the same?

"Keith?" Matt's voice caught his ears, one of them twitching faintly at the sound of it. "You asleep?"

God, he wished.

Cracking one eye open, Keith peered over at him. "No."

"Oh." Matt seemed to blink, a slight frown on his face. "Well, uh, pretty sure we're here."

Now opening both eyes, Keith pushed himself upright, following Matt's line of vision. The castle was... pretty hard to miss, if he had to be honest, sticking out like a sore thumb in the otherwise natural landscape, gleaming white under the light of the moon.

The Castle of Lions.

There was joy in Allura's voice when she spoke of it, but looking at it now, for himself... it just made him feel like an intruder, like he shouldn't be here.

He shouldn't, he knew. He was Galra, and his people had been the ones to wipe Altea from existence. Just because he was part human, it didn't absolve him of what his mother's people had done, didn't free him from their sins.

It just meant that he had been blessedly ignorant of them for awhile.

Maybe that was why his father never told him. What kind of parent would want tell their child that half of them belonged to a bloodthirsty race of alien monsters?

Grunting as Matt landed the ship with far less finesse than he would have liked, Keith got to his feet, wondering if he should even go in. Sure, there was the whole _paladin_ business, but this was still an Altean castle- what if there were others like the princess, frozen in a deep sleep?

The princess tolerated him, sure- but only because she _had_ to. As soon as another paladin for the red lion presented themselves, he knew that he would be tossed out onto the curb without so much as a second thought.

There was a low rumble in the back of his mind at that, the red lion seeming to object. Part of him wanted to believe her- but the part of him that knew better buried that feeling, that _hope_ , deep down.

Nothing stayed.

This would never change.

* * *

The feeling of being an intruder didn't fade once he entered the Castle of Lions.

If anything, it _increased_.

He had gotten so used to living in a world of black, of purple, of red, that the stark white and gleaming blue of the castle-ship felt foreign to him- _alien_ , even. It made him feel more out of place than he ever had, even during that brief time he had returned to Earth.

The lights were too bright for his eyes, a faint shudder of revulsion as his third eyelid slid into place, protecting his light sensitive eyes. It had been ages, but he never got used to that feeling. Galra ships had naturally low lighting, and the red lion accommodated him, so it wasn't something that he had cause to experience often, a small mercy, as it were.

Returning to Earth had been hell, in that regard. Everything had been too _bright_.

He followed behind the other three, trailing them by several steps. Watching as Allura navigated the Castle's halls with a practiced ease, he could only wonder where she was leading them to.

The answer came in the form of a round room, which at first glance, seemed to hold nothing more than a control console in the center of it. He hesitated, hovering just outside of it, even as Pidge and Matt made their way inside, hot on the princess' heels.

If he turned around here and just left, he wondered how long it would take them to notice. Maybe that would be easier- he could sense the changing tide of his life, and all he wanted to do was run away from it, to make his own choice in the matter, to wrest back some form of control.

He wouldn't take the red lion. It would be easier to part with it before it parted with him.

Yet he stayed.

Still, he didn't enter the room, lingering by the door as he listened with half an ear as Allura explained just what the room was. The cryochamber, she'd called it.

With a name like that, it wasn't hard to guess the room's purpose. He couldn't begrudge her wish that there might be other, living Alteans, knowing all too well what it felt like to be alone. For her sake, he found himself hoping that there were as well.

So he watched- watched as the pods came up out of the floor one by one, watched as Allura's face fell as each one came up empty. By the time the last one began to rise out of the floor, he could sense that she had almost given up, resigning herself to being the last living Altean.

Almost given up, but not quite.

The universe rewarded that fierce spark of hope.

The vivid smile of pure joy that lit up her face was a sight to behold. In a fashion, the Altean princess had always been a bit like him- guarded, hiding her feelings behind an iron wall. But they were not the same, he knew, and he never expected them to be.

He was still human enough not to begrudge the happiness of others.

* * *

She could nearly weep.

If she had been alone, she surely would have.

Not tears of sorrow, no- these would have been tears of _joy_. For this whole time, she had feared, _dreaded_ , that she was the last Altean left alive, that there were no others of her kind left out there, that everyone she knew had long since been lost to the stars.

But no.

She was _not_ alone.

Perhaps she would not weep in front of the others, but she would, however, toss aside enough of her decorum to allow herself one tight, bone crushing embrace. It was part of out of necessity- she needed to check and see if he was really real, and not simply a figment of her desperate imagination.

Coran.

Bless the stars, it was Coran.

He was still in a daze, at first. But it wasn't long before she felt his hands around her shoulders, returning the tight embrace with almost a sense of wonder.

"Princess?"

"Yes, Coran." Her voice was muffled, her head buried in his chest as it was. "It is _so good_ to see you."

Holding him close for a moment longer, she forced herself to draw away. She was reluctant to let go of him, as if he would disappear the moment she did so.

Silly, she knew.

He searched her eyes, and she must have shown more pain in them than she thought, for he gently cupped her face, a deep frown set on his features. "How long has it been?"

Drawing in a breath, she straightened her back, bracing herself to give him the same words that had caused her so much pain. "Ten thousand years." She told him. "And Zarkon still reigns."

He took in her words with a grave seriousness, before pulling her back into a tight embrace. "Your father wished that when you woke, it would be in a bright future."

There was an unspoken apology to his words. He need not give it- the only one to blame was Zarkon.

She pulled herself away again, taking a good step back. There was pain, yes, but that was not all there was. "All hope is not yet lost. There is still Voltron."

The words seemed to light a spark in the man's eyes. "Then King Alfor's plan worked?"

"So it would seem." Allura told him, a faint smile on her lips. "Come, there are people I would like you to meet."

Turning on her heel, she realized with a pause that only the two full blooded Earthlings were within the cryochamber. Searching for the halfbreed, her eyes finally fell on Keith, lingering by the door, who seemed to meet her gaze after a moment.

Oh, she realized with a pause, he was uncomfortable here.

Good, he _should_ be, some more venomous part of her thought. But she rejected that line of thinking, tossing it aside as soon as it entered her mind.

It was a disquieting notion, that it was his obvious self hatred, more than anything else, that was slowly winning her over. But if there were any better indicator of how much he reviled the Galra than how much he hated the part of himself that _was_ Galra, she knew not.

Shaking off her thoughts, she stepped forward, first stopping in front of Matt.

"This is Matthew Holt, of Earth." She chose to introduce him first, for ease. "He is a member of a rebel alliance that is currently fighting against the Galra Empire."

Matt was quick to flash a grin, lifting a hand. "You can call me Matt. And it's kind of less of an _alliance_ , at this stage. We're pretty fractured."

"Well met then, young Matt!" And she couldn't help but smile at his tone, boisterous in spite of the crushing news that he had just received not even minutes ago. "They call me Coran, on account of the fact that that's my name!"

His gaze dropped to Pidge, and he gave her the same smile. "Ah, and who might this young lady be?"

"This is-" Allura began, only to find herself cut off.

"Katie Holt, also of Earth. Matt's my older brother." She introduced herself, and Allura had to blink. _Katie_? Wasn't her name _Pidge_? "You can call me Pidge."

Oh, a nickname. Now she understood.

"Well met, Pidge!" Coran beamed. "Are you with the rebellion too, then?"

"No, I'm a space pirate." She told him freely.

Coran _squeaked_. In spite of herself, Allura couldn't help but laugh. Yes, now that she thought about it, Coran did have a rather... _interesting_ track record when it came to space pirates, didn't he?

(By interesting, she of course meant a history of getting ripped off by them. Bless his too honest heart.)

"Yes, Pidge here is a space pirate." Allura told him. "But she is also one of my saviors. As well, as I might add, the green paladin of Voltron."

She could not keep the tinge of sadness out of her words, not completely. There was a weight to them that she did not know if the others would understand- but she knew that Coran would.

For there to be a new green paladin, something had to have happened to the old one.

"The green paladin, eh?" Coran asked, burying any such feelings deep within him, one hand reaching out to stroke his mustache. "So this is the hope that you mentioned, eh, princess?"

"Yes." Allura told him. "We have only just managed to recover the green lion- it was how we found the Castle of Lions in the first place."

And she had a great many questions, namely, how it was that she had found herself so far away from it- but she would wait, sticking to introductions for the moment. Once she caught Coran up to speed, then she could ask him what he knew.

"Splendid!" Coran beamed. "That's one lion down, four to go!"

"Three, actually." Allura corrected him. "The red lion has also been recovered."

"Your father's-!" Coran exclaimed, before half regretting it, his words almost seeming to sting him more than they did her. "Have you found its paladin?"

A more loaded question than he could have realized.

"Yes." She told him- for whatever her reservations might be, she had _seen_ Keith fly the red lion, and she had sensed for herself just how deep their bond was. "Or perhaps I should say that the red lion found its paladin, since that seems to be how it happened."

Turning on her heel, she let out a held breath as she realized that Keith was still there. For some reason, she'd almost half expected him to leave. Catching his eye, she watched as he let out a long sigh, finally deciding to join them.

Visibly forcing himself to hold Coran's gaze, he kept his tone curt. "Keith."

Coran, to his credit, barely so much as flinched. His gaze did, briefly, dart in her direction for the span of a moment, before fixing itself back on the half Galra before him.

"You must be quite something then, to have gained the red lion's trust!" Coran told him. "She's a temperamental one, that one."

It was, very clearly, _not_ the reaction Keith had been expecting. It was hard to miss, the way the bulk of his tension all but washed out of his shoulders, leaving him still wary, but more relaxed.

"Keith's a space pirate too!" Pidge chirped, grinning from ear to ear.

Now _that_ Coran did react to, letting out another squeak. "Princess! I go to sleep for ten thousand years, and wake to find you gallivanting about the universe with space pirates! What would your father say?"

"I am not sure I would call it _gallivanting_ , exactly, but yes," Allura told him, unable to help but be just a bit amused, "-I suppose they are both space pirates. And you know as well as I that father would say nothing."

"Uh, what about me?" Matt chimed in. " _I'm_ a space pirate too."

"Yeah, but you just joined our crew like, this morning." Pidge pointed out. "It's not official until your bounty lists you as part of our crew."

"Hold on, I'm going to check my bounty right now." Matt told her, reaching into his back pocket, before he froze, squinting. "I just remembered I don't have my transponder."

"Smooth, Matt." Pidge remarked. "You're really selling your first impression here."

"I see you through your darkest hours of adolescence, and this is how you repay me." Matt told her, mock offense to his voice. "But seriously, I should probably try and contact Te-Osh. She might want an update."

"Te-Osh?" Coran inquired.

"Another rebel." Allura told him. "She leads a force that fights against the Galra Empire on the borderlands, if my memory serves."

"And that it does." Matt told her. "Keith, you wanna give me a hand?"

"Sure." Giving him a curt nod, he briefly spared a glance back in Allura's direction. "Princess?"

Was he... asking for permission? Pursing her lips together, Allura studied him for a brief moment, trying to place _why_. Perhaps he felt as out of place on the castle-ship as he looked- which was to say, _very_.

"Yes, of course." Allura told him. "There is much to do. Coran, can you help me get the Castle back online? After ten thousand years, I am afraid it might be a bit out of sorts."

"Never fear, princess!" Coran all but chirped. "You know they didn't call me the Coranic for nothing! We'll have this ship back up and running in no time!"

A soft smile gracing her features, she couldn't help but feel as if the burden on her heart had lightened. If she had found the Castle of Lions empty, she knew that it would still be there, heavy as it had ever been. But knowing that she was not the last...

It was not gone, but it had become easier to bear.

She had, in truth, been hoping for her father- but Coran was wonderful too. He had always been like a second father to her, a constant presence in her life.

"Thank you, Coran." Allura told him, before turning on her heel, facing what was, admittedly, a rather motley group all told. "Once the Castle is back up and running, I will attempt to locate the remaining two lions. From there, we can decide on our next course of action."

"Wait," tilting his head, Keith frowned, "- _two_? I thought there were three lions left."

"Two." She repeated. "For the black lion is here, in the Castle."

* * *

It was in no short order that everyone finished their business- for there turned out to be no small amount of it.

The first order of business was to bring the red and green lions into the Castle of Lions proper. With the two lions back in their hangars, somehow the Castle felt a little more complete.

There had been some debate over what to do with the stolen Galra transport ship. Eventually, it was decided that they would place it in the Castle's main hangar for the time being, on the off chance that it might prove useful in the future. It looked quite out of place next to the pods, dwarfing them to no small degree.

She sensed that Keith was a bit unwilling to let go of it. From her understanding, it had served as his home now for half a year, so she could understand the reluctance.

The second, of course, was to contact and brief Te-Osh. She had departed from the way station, and had been en route back to the borderlands when they had called. She seemed pleased to hear that the green lion was now in their hands, and though she seemed a bit reluctant to part with Matt, she agreed to release him from his duties with the rebellion.

He would be serving it still, just in a different way than before.

Living arrangements had to be made. It was best to get it out of the way now, as they had no idea what the future would hold.

Simply moving all of Pidge's things from her quarters on the transport ship to her new quarters on the Castle had taken a good hour. It was a wonder that she had any room to sleep, what with all of the various clutter that she had collected.

In contrast, Keith did not seem to own much.

"I travel light." He'd told her, revealing more about himself in that one statement than he had during the admittedly brief time in which she had known him.

There were still any number of ill gotten gains stored aboard the transport ship, but for the time being, they left them in place. In the event that they began to run low on funds, they could sell some of the stolen equipment. GAC was the currency used by most of the known universe now, it seemed, something which she and Coran found themselves in a shortage of.

Keith and Pidge, on the other hand, had quite a bit of it.

Leaving the economic matters to pirates was a... strange concept, to say the least, but the pair had more cause to be familiar with the ins and outs of the market than they would.

It was only once all of that was settled, that they _finally_ found their way to the bridge.

"So how does this work, exactly?" Pidge asked, adjusting her glasses as she peered curiously around the bridge.

"Does it involve more hand holding?" Keith asked, his tone dry.

Casting a brief glance over in Keith's direction, the half Galra merely gave her a shrug of his shoulders, as if he had asked an honest question. "No, it does not."

"As for how it works..." Making her way to the center of the bridge, she took a careful step up onto the platform. "Allow me to show you."

Drawing in a long breath, she closed her eyes, focusing her energy. She could feel the faint tingle of it just underneath her skin, gathering there until she released it with a breath, a shining map of the universe responding to her beck and call.

Even Keith look sufficiently impressed.

"These are coordinates." Pidge observed, turning on her heel, casting a glance about the illusionary cosmos that floated around her head. "It looks like the red and green lions are in the same location as the black lion."

"Indeed." Allura told them, nodding her head. "When the war first begun, my father took the black lion, and locked it away in the Castle, so that Zarkon could not obtain it."

"So that's three lions." Matt said, peering at the glimmering map for himself. "What about the last two?"

"Only the yellow and blue lions remain." Allura told them. "The yellow lion," with a wave of her hand, she made the map spin, bringing up the yellow lion's location, "...is here, as you can see."

Squinting, Matt narrowed his eyes, leaning in as if to get a better look. "I think the Galra have a mining colony there."

That was... a disquieting notion. She knew that they had once had the red lion in their possession, but she did _not_ like the chance that they might also have the yellow lion within their grasp as well.

"You don't think they're looking for the yellow lion, do you?" Pidge asked.

"I'm not sure?" Matt told her, glancing between his sister and Allura. "The whole planet is one big ore mine. They might not even know the yellow lion is there."

"That is... concerning." Allura admitted with a frown.

"I can contact Te-Osh again, and have her gather some more intelligence." Matt offered.

"If you could, that would be lovely, thank you." Allura told him. "I would rather avoid rushing in without knowing exactly what it is that we are dealing with."

At best, they had two functional lions, and a pair of support ships. While the castle-ship had considerable firepower, retrieving the yellow lion without its paladin would be the very definition of difficult. Best then to have the odds a little more evenly stacked in their favor.

"As for the blue lion," Allura spoke, pressing onward, shifting the map of the cosmos once again, "...it is located here."

"Wait, isn't that-"

Keith was the one who spoke first, but it was Pidge who finished.

"- _Earth_?"


	10. home planet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How do you think the giant robot thing works anyways?" Keith asked, arching a brow. "Do we just like... stack on top of each other or something?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, it's chapter ten, the big double digits! In this chapter, a pair of aliens call home, Keith and Pidge are promoted on the Coran height scale due to absence of taller paladins (enjoy it while it lasts), and Matt teaches the Alteans a bit about Earth culture. Fun for the whole family!

"What the- it was on Earth _the whole time_!?"

"Oh no, no, it's not just on Earth." Matt interjected- and she didn't miss the way he tried to reach for glasses he no longer had. "I recognize those coordinates. Not only is the blue lion on Earth, it's also on _Garrison property_."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Keith's tone was curt, yet somehow, endlessly exasperated.

Which honestly? Same. Of all the luck.

"What is this... _Garrison_?" Allura broke in, equal parts confusion and curiosity lacing her voice. "Is it a bad thing that the blue lion is there?"

"That, your highness, is a loaded question." Pidge spoke up, letting out a deep sigh. "To be it in simple terms, the Galaxy Garrison is a space exploration program funded by the American government."

"What is... American?" Allura asked.

"It's the country we come from." Matt supplied. "Or well, _America_."

"Your planet still has separate countries?" Coran asked. "How quaint."

"Could we not negotiate with this Galaxy Garrison for the release of the blue lion?" Allura inquired. "If it truly is in their possession, as you say."

"Well I don't know if it's in their possession, _exactly_." Matt told her. "The Galaxy Garrison is located at these coordinates, sure, but they own like, a _huge_ swath of land out in the desert in that area, most if it undeveloped. It's possible it's just hidden somewhere in that area like the green lion was."

"Not too many people go out that way."

And that was Keith. Blinking, Pidge spared him a glance, just in time to watch him flinch, realizing that he had supplied them with more back story than he'd meant to.

That Keith was familiar with the Galaxy Garrison was known to her- had been, ever since the morning after she'd first met him. He knew enough about the Garrison to know that they would have an interest in an extraterrestrial life form such as himself, and knew enough about them to know that their probe feeds were supposed to be classified.

But this... frowning, she couldn't help but note that it hinted at a deeper level of familiarity with the Galaxy Garrison than she'd first thought. And man, did she want to ask about that, but instead she bit her tongue, fighting the urge.

"Matt's right, they might not." Pidge told her. "But if the Garrison _does_ have it... that could make things pretty complicated."

Keith let out a faint snort behind her, and she was pretty sure he rolled his eyes. "That's an understatement."

"I'm sensing there's a bit of a history here." Coran mused.

"Oh, there's history alright." Pidge told him. "Allura, you know how I told you that I came out here to find my family, right?"

"Yes, of course." Allura said, nodding her head, a look of understanding dawning across her face. "Oh, I see. Did they work for this... _Galaxy Garrison_?"

"Me and dad did." Matt told her. "We were on a mission that took us to the near edge of our solar system when the Galra found us."

"The Garrison covered it up." Pidge informed her. "Said it was pilot error, that the entire crew died in a crash. Guess they didn't want the general public to know about _alien invaders_."

"Oh yes, I see." Allura said, her brow furrowing. "I feel as if I am beginning to understand the problem. But surely if we made it clear that we are in no way connected to the ones who took your family, they would be more than willing to negotiate with us."

"We were known for being quite the diplomats, back in our day!" Coran remarked, stroking his mustache. "I'm sure Allura can still pull off the old charm."

Another snort escaped from Keith, this one almost sounding bitter. "You're a lot more likely to end up as test subjects that way."

Allura froze at those words. She must have suspected the same thing she did- that Keith's non-Galra parent was likely human, and therefore, automatically gave his words on the matter more weight than any other.

"Yes, I would... quite like to avoid that." Allura frowned. "It is easy to forget that your civilization has had no," and her frown deepened, gaze lingering on Keith for the span of a moment, "... _public_ contact with interstellar life."

_Smooth_ , Pidge thought, her gaze flicking back towards Keith. He hadn't missed the implication of her words, but he merely took it with an arched brow. He might not talk about it, but he'd never exactly _denied_ his apparent connection to the human race.

"I think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves, though. Like I said before, Matt might be right." Pidge said. "I think the first thing we need to establish is whether or not the blue lion is actually _in_ Garrison hands, and then we can work out a plan from there."

"Yes, I agree." Allura said, nodding her head. "As this is your home world, perhaps it would be wise to leave the bulk of the planning up to the three of you. You would have cause to know it better than I."

_Three_ , Pidge noted. Yep, she definitely suspected.

Nor did Keith protest, which confirmed a lingering suspicion of hers- that he'd likely been born on Earth.

"Wait, so... just checking here." Holding up a hand, Matt cut into the conversation. "Just to be sure, this means we're going back to Earth, right?"

Allura blinked, then slowly inclined her head. "Yes."

Letting out a loud _whoop_ , Matt practically beamed from ear to ear. "You hear that Katie? Back home! Back to... oh man, _oh man_ , I can see mom again, and Bae Bae, and I can... _Earth_ , Katie- _Earth_!"

Unable to help herself, Katie returned his grin- she couldn't help it, there was something about it that was almost infectious. Hell, she could even make out the edge of one pulling at the corner of Keith's lips.

Even if it _was_ tinged with the knowledge that the reason was he was so excited about it was because he'd been away from home for so long- and not by choice, either. There had probably been a time when he thought he might never be able to return home, that he was doomed to rot away inside of a Galra prison cell.

"Speaking of your mom, we should probably contact her." Keith piped up. "Princess, is there any way we can boost a long range transmission with this Castle of yours?"

Frowning, Allura turned her focus on the Altean man at her side. "Coran?"

"Yes, I believe so." Coran mused, thinking it over for a moment. "We should be able to use the Castle's spires in order to do so, but it may take some work."

"I already built a device that's capable of receiving long range transmissions from Earth." Pidge told him. "Do you think we could use that to speed things up?"

"I believe so, Number Three." Coran beamed, adding, "I've got you all ranked by height."

Twitching at that, she fought back the urge to make a smart remark. So far this _Coran_ was proving to be a bit eccentric, and she couldn't decide if it was in a good way or not. "Great. I'll go ahead and get it from the ship."

"You need a hand?" Keith asked.

"Please." She said. "I don't know where you hide all that muscle, Keith, you're as scrawny as I am."

"It's the malnutrition." Keith joked. "Without it, I'd probably be like, seven feet tall by now."

"Ugh, I hate that's like... a real possibility with you." Scrunching her nose, she fell into step behind him. "You ever get that tall, I'm gonna kick your Galra ass."

Just at the edge of her hearing, she could hear Matt whisper _smallra_ \- and judging from the twitch of Keith's ears, not to mention the glower he shot back at her brother, he could too. Locking eyes with him, he promptly stuck out his middle finger.

Matt, for his part, gasped.

"Keith!" He said, placing a hand over his chest, mock offense in full swing. "In the presence of a princess, no less!"

To that, Keith merely lifted up his other hand, sticking out his other middle finger.

* * *

"You should be resting, princess."

Ah yes, he knew that smile. It was the one she wore whenever she was trying to deny something. "I am fine, Coran."

He'd already sent their guests away- off to get something to eat, which, judging from the sound of the small one's stomach, they all sorely needed. Calibrating the long range transmitter to reach the distant planet of Earth would take quite some time, though the receptor that the small one had brought him would save quite a bit of it.

"If you say so, princess." Coran frowned. "Still, I never thought I'd see the day we were working together with space pirates to reform Voltron." Letting out a faint chuckle, his frown flickered into a half smile. "King Alfor would be quite amused by this turn of events, I suspect."

"Yes, father likely would." Allura noted.

He sensed she wanted to say more.

"Coran," she began, "-why was I not on board the Castle?"

"Your father thought it too dangerous." Coran told her. "You are the key to Voltron's whereabouts. If Zarkon found you together with the Castle and the black lion, he could have used you to track down the rest of the lions as well."

It was a good plan- though it would seem it hadn't worked out entirely as well as King Alfor had hoped. From the sound of it, Allura's cryopod had been discovered, and by the Galra Empire, no less. He could only be grateful that the ship she was on board had been intercepted before it could reach Zarkon.

To think that he still lived... disturbing news indeed.

"You were hidden away in one of our ancient temples." Coran told her. "After that, I landed the Castle here on Arus, and put myself into cryosleep. I always did hope you would come one day, to wake me."

"Well here I am." Allura told him, her tone soft. "You do not know how happy I was to see you, Coran."

"Ah, and me you, princess." Coran told her, sparing a glance back towards her. "But space pirates, eh?"

"Yes." Allura noted, lifting her brows. "That came as a surprise to me as well- _Keith_ especially."

Ah yes, there it was. The proverbial yalmor in the room. It hadn't been stated directly, but it was hard to miss the fact that he was some kind of Galra hybrid- likely mixed with Earthling blood, based on the companions he kept.

"Ah now, he doesn't seem like a bad lad." Coran told her. "A bit crass, perhaps. We will not be repeating that _rude_ Earth gesture he made any time soon."

That earned him a faint laugh- ah yes, there it was. She'd always had the most wonderful laugh- just hearing it had been able to brighten his day. It had all but disappeared when the war first began, with Zarkon's betrayal running so deep.

A shame it didn't last, the contemplative look returning to her features. "Still, he _is_ half Galra, and however likely it is that he was raised by his Earthling parent, I cannot simply forget that fact. And to think he possess father's lion, no less."

"Do you think that the red lion could have made a mistake?" Coran asked, not believing it himself.

"I-" Her gaze downcast, she shook her head. "No. It is just... difficult to accept. But he _does_ seem to loathe the Galra Empire near as much as I do, so perhaps I can use that as something of a common ground."

"I'm not sure your father would approve of using mutual hatred as a starting ground for a relationship." Coran observed.

"I suppose not." Allura told him, her head once more lifting, giving him a weak smile. "But his bond with the red lion is true, so I do not wish to risk driving him away."

"I'm sure you'll manage." Giving her a smile, Coran paused in his work. "Now you really _should_ get some rest, Allura. I know you're just as anxious as anyone to reform Voltron, but you look exhausted."

For a moment, it looked as if she was going to protest again- before she instead let out a faint sigh. "Very well, Coran. Perhaps I _do_ need a bit of sleep."

"Good." Nodding his head, Coran sounded pleased. She could be an awfully stubborn one, Allura could. She got that from her mother, bless her soul. "Goodnight, princess."

"Goodnight Coran."

* * *

"I cannot _believe_ you left me to explain the intricacies of flipping people off to a pair of aliens."

"I can't believe there's nothing to eat on this castle-ship other than _food goo_." Pidge observed, taking a spoonful of the said goo, making a small grimace at it.

"Still better than what they serve you in Galra prison." Keith said, taking a bite of his own without so much as blinking. "I can't believe we're eating ten thousand year old food."

"...wow Keith, I was actually enjoying this meal before you said that." Matt told him, shooting him a glare.

"You're welcome." Keith told him, taking another bite of his food goo. "So how long did Coran say it'll take to rig up the long range transmitter?"

Absently swirling her spoon in her food goo, Pidge frowned. She had wanted to stick around the bridge and help- she'd been the one to build that long range receptor, but Coran had shooed her off of it the moment her stomach growled. "A few vargas, at least. And then we'll have to wait a few more for it not to be a totally obscene hour on Earth."

"Yeah, I can't really recommend waking mom up at like, three in the morning." Matt said, his expression speaking to his personal experience in the matter. "Not a good life choice."

"Excited to finally talk to her again?" Pidge asked.

"You know it." Matt told her, letting out an almost dreamy sigh. "You know, Te-Osh actually offered to take me back to Earth when she first freed me. But without dad..."

Trailing off, he shook his head, giving his sister a rueful smile. "Couldn't do it without dad."

"I wish we could be bringing dad home too." Pidge told him. "But who knows? Maybe this whole _paladin_ thing will help us find him."

"Hope so." Matt said. "That's so cool though, Pidge. I mean, you, a paladin? A defender of the universe? I always knew you were destined for great things, sis."

"Aw, you're just trying to butter me up." Unable to help herself, Pidge grinned. "Who knows? Maybe one of the other lions will respond to you."

"Oh man, I _wish_." Contemplating his ten thousand year old food goo for a moment, Matt shrugged his shoulders, shoving his spoon in and taking another bite. "I'd _love_ to form a giant robot together with the two of you."

"How do you think the giant robot thing works anyways?" Keith asked, arching a brow. "Do we just like... stack on top of each other or something?"

"No clue." Pidge admitted. "Do you think we could like, form a pair of arms right now and start punching Galra cruisers out of the sky?"

"Oh man, that'd be _so_ cool." Matt said. "Do you think the two of you will like, become space famous?"

"Well we're already space _infamous_ , so," Keith shrugged, "...space famous would probably be an improvement."

"Mm." Arching her brows, Pidge leaned forward. "On that note, I checked our bounties while I was helping Coran, and holy shit, Keith- you _seriously_ need to take a look at yours."

"Nope." Holding up a hand, Keith shook his head. "I'm better off not knowing how much I'm worth at this point."

"Suit yourself." Pidge said. "Matt, you'll be pleased to know that you are now listed as being among our crew, so welcome to the life of a space pirate slash paladin of Voltron."

Letting out a snort, Keith raised a brow. "Somehow I don't think the princess would be all that hot on your choice of phrasing, Pidge."

"I mean... she's not wrong." Matt pointed out. "Cause right now we've only got the two of you, and you're both wanted space pirates, so... yeah."

"Hm." Tilting his head, Keith frowned. "Fair point."

"Anyways, I don't know about the two of you," Matt told them, getting to his feet, "...but I'm going to try and get a bit of shut eye. Want to be bright eyed and bushy tailed when I talk to mom."

"Don't say that around the Alteans, they'll think you actually have one." Pidge warned him, only half joking. "But ugh, you're probably right. I could use a nap... and a _shower_ , maybe."

Now that she'd gotten some food in her, she couldn't help but feel more than a little exhausted. Come to think of it, she hadn't slept since they first arrived at the way station, and that felt like... god, that probably was over a day ago now.

Time in space was _weird_.

"Shower sounds good." Keith observed.

"What, no nap?" Matt asked.

"Not tired." Keith told him, barely so much as sparing him a glance. If she noticed the way she looked at him, he didn't acknowledge it. "Want me to wake you when Coran is done?"

Narrowing her eyes, Pidge cast a suspicious glance at him. "Better not be with the alarm system."

"Not even my ship." Keith told her, not even having the decency to _pretend_ to look like he was offended at the insinuation he would do such a thing. "Don't think they'll let me play with the alarms."

Somehow, she didn't feel all that convinced.

* * *

'"Number Two offered to help me test out the alarm system!" Coran had told her, after she practically sprinted to the bridge, blaring alarms startling her awake.

Keith, for his part, merely lifted his hand in greeting, not looking the least bit guilty over his actions. He was slouched back in a chair that had most _definitely_ not been there before, illuminated on the side by glowing red panels.

She'd get him for this someday.

"So, that said, I got that long range transmitter up and running for you, Number Three!" Coran all but chirped. "With this, you should be able to send a transmission to your _Earth_."

"Great, thanks Coran." Pidge told him, her gaze flickering back towards Matt, who was still making the shift from _not a real emergency_ to _I can't believe Keith just did the thing he said he wouldn't do_.

Ah, he had much to learn.

"I imagine this will be a rather personal call, so if you would like, Coran and I can leave the bridge until you are done." Allura offered. "I am sure you have much that you wish to say to your mother."

"Thanks, Allura." Casting a faint smile towards her, vaguely grateful for her consideration, she caught Keith's eye again. "And you. Stop slouching and come over here. Mom'll want to talk to you too."

Lifting his brows, Keith merely shrugged his shoulders, getting to his feet. Folding his arms in front of his chest, his face was a noncommittal mask.

"Right, so you touch this to start the transmission," Coran told her, indicating which button on the screen to press, "...and this one to end it. It's already set up to go to the corresponding device, so you don't need to worry about any of that."

"Got it, thanks Coran." Pidge told him.

Watching as the pair of Alteans left, Pidge turned back to the screen, drawing in a long breath. Her gaze flickering over towards Matt, she paused for a moment, standing up on her toes and grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Hide." She told him, trying to push him down.

To his credit, Matt only blinked for the span of a second- before giving her a sage nod. "What's my cue?"

"Two fingers." She told him, watching as her brother sunk down, until he was hidden by the control panel. "Then you'll spring out and give mom a real surprise. Keith, try not to telegraph Matt's location."

He let out a faint snort at that, catching the joke. Like he could telegraph _anything_ with his eyes.

Drawing in her breath, her hand hovered for a moment over the button, before she let it out, giving it a press. It took a moment, the old castle-ship needing to warm itself up, but before long, it came through for her, leaving a very startled image of her mother on the other side of the screen.

"Katie!" Colleen seemed to blink. "I didn't think you could call me!"

"We got a bit of help with that." Pidge told her, giving her a small grin. "Nice to see you, mom."

"Nice to see you too, Katie." Her mother said, a fond smile on her face. "And you as well, Keith. Are you... are the two of you in a different ship?"

"Oh, we're definitely in a different ship." Pidge told her, the small grin giving way to an impish one. "And we've got like, so much to tell you mom."

_So much_ , Keith mouthed.

"Well I'm all ears." Colleen told her.

"Great. Then let me start off," shifting a bit to the side, she showed two fingers behind her back, Matt taking that as his cue to spring up, "...with this!"

" _Ta-da_!" Spreading out his hands, Matt beamed from ear to ear. "Hey there, mom!"

" _Oh_ -!" Her hands flying to her mouth, for a moment, their mother's eyes were overwhelmed with tears- happy ones, she didn't miss. "Matt, honey, it's you!"

"It's me!" Matt said. "Pidge found me! Or well, we kind of found each other actually, it's a funny story, not like funny ha-ha, but you know... we broke into the same ship together without knowing it so yeah, maybe it is actually kind of funny, in a way?"

"Oh this is such wonderful news." Colleen said- and she could have sworn that in that instant, her mother looked happier than she had seen her in a long time. "I'm so glad... so glad to see you, Matt, I thought..."

"Aw mom, don't cry." Matt said. "I'm alright. I didn't even spend that long in Galra jail."

"Some rebels broke him out, apparently." Pidge supplied. "He's been working with them ever since."

"Are they around?" Colleen asked, almost seeming to search behind them, trying to see if there was anyone else lurking just off screen. "They saved my son, I really have to thank them."

"No, we kind of split ways. It's a long story." Matt told her. "But maybe someday I'll get the chance to introduce Te-Osh to you. You'd like her, mom, she's cool."

"We still haven't found dad yet, though." Pidge told her, and though she tried not to, she couldn't keep her expression from faltering. "But we'll keep looking."

"I'm sure you'll find him." Colleen was quick to assure her. "If anyone can do it, it's you, Katie."

Giving her mother a smile, she tried to assure herself of that. "There's actually something else we need to talk to you about."

"We're coming back to Earth." Keith cut in.

"Wow Keith, way to steal the good part." Matt observed, shooting him a look- to which the half Galra merely shrugged.

"Well that _is_ wonderful news." Colleen remarked. "When?"

"I'm not sure on the details yet." Pidge told her, shaking her head. "We'll have to work some things out with Allura and Coran. They're the ones who own this ship. That's a long story too, but we'll save it for when we see you in person."

"Of course." Colleen told them, nodding her head. "What can I do to help?"

"You remember the lake house?" Pidge asked. "We'll need to land in someplace secluded, because you know, alien spaceship and all that."

Nodding her head in understanding, Colleen let out a faint hum. "Let me check what flights are available."

Moving away from the monitor for a moment, her mother reached for her phone, taking a few minutes to check for flights. "It looks like there's one in about two hours that I can catch if I hurry. How many people will I need to prepare it for?"

"At least five." Keith told her. "Probably. Do you think Allura and Coran plan on coming down with us?"

"You know, we really should have asked." Matt noted. "Probably the princess?"

"Princess?" Colleen blinked. "I- are you planning on bringing _royalty_ to the lake house?"

"Well, _alien_ royalty, but yeah, I guess." Pidge said, giving her a shrug of her shoulders.

"In that case, you'll need to give me a whole day, _at least_ , to clean." Colleen told her. "I can't have _royalty_ come to a house that's covered in dust! Oh, and I'll need to get out the fine china that my grandmother gave me on my wedding day, oh and the _silver_ -!"

"Mom, it'll be fine." Pidge reassured her. "I don't think Allura's that much of a stickler for formalities."

"She may not be, but _I_ am, young lady!" Colleen told her. "So you give me that day, unless your business is so urgent that it can't possibly wait."

"Well I guess... it's not?" Pidge frowned, exchanging a glance with Keith and Matt.

Keith shrugged. "S'not like the Garrison could even get into the blue lion if they tried."

He had a point. Turning back to her mom, who had merely inclined a brow at that exchange, Pidge gave her a nod of her head. "Alright, we'll meet you at the lake house. We'll contact you when we're in the neighborhood so we can refine our exact landing plans."

"And by neighborhood, she means the same solar system." Matt supplied. "Space travel is like, a whole 'nother scale out here."

"I suppose I'll have to put the transmitter with my checked luggage, then." Colleen noted. "I don't think airport security would be all that wild about me lugging it on the flight with me."

"Plans thwarted by the TSA." Keith seemed to mutter underneath his breath.

"Sounds like something they would do." Matt agreed.

Pidge merely let out a snort, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "Then, we'll work things out on our end, mom. We'll call again later."

"Alright, sweetie." Colleen told her. "It will be so good to see you again. _All_ of you."

The last part, she sensed, was directed at Keith, who let his gaze flicker away.

"It'll be good to see you too, mom." Pidge told her. "I love you."

"I love you too, Katie." She said. "Look after your brother for me. Keep Keith out of trouble."

"One of those two is like, physically impossible, but I'll do my best." Pidge promised, ignoring the marked glower Keith shot her way. "We'll see you soon, mom."

"Love you, mom!" Matt added.

"Love you too, sweetheart." Colleen told him.

"Then, we're going to go." Pidge told her, her hand hovering over the end transmission button. In truth, she wanted to talk with her longer- she always did. Even knowing that they would see each other soon, in person, at that, the feeling didn't change.

"Take care."

Nodding her head, she drew in a breath, hitting the button to end the transmission. As the screen flickered away, she let it out, letting her shoulders slump.

"You want me to give you two a moment?" Keith asked, glancing between them.

"No, I'm- we're fine." She told him, shaking her head. "Let's get Allura and Coran. We've got a ton to discuss."

* * *

"So this... _lake house_ of yours is isolated enough for us to land at without drawing attention?"

After calling Allura and Coran back into the room, they had directed them to the lounge, noting that it would be a far more comfortable location in which to converse than the bridge. They had all settled in a circle on the couches- the Alteans on one side, and the humans- and _half_ human- on the other.

Keith hadn't denied Earth being his home planet, so she was going to take that as an indication that her long held theory was in fact, correct. He _was_ human- at least, partly.

"Maybe not the Castle, but one of the lions, sure." Pidge told her. "Keith crash landed Red on Earth the first time we met, and as far as I know, the Garrison didn't come looking for it, so we should be able to use them to breech the atmosphere undetected."

"You crashed." Allura noted, arching her brows, gaze fixing pointedly on Keith. "The red lion."

"I didn't-" Keith began, making a slight face, before shooting Pidge a dirty look to the tune of _how dare you mention that_. "Look, Earth was the first place I could think of going after I escaped. I wasn't _exactly_ in my best condition."

"Well, it's understandable, wanting to go back home, after so long away from it." Coran observed. "...this _Earth_ is your home, correct?"

Keith seemed to flinch, before letting out a long sigh, clearly having given up on denying it when asked that directly. "Yeah."

"That explains like, so much." Matt whispered.

Allura blinked, the realization dawning on her. "Did... were you _unaware_ Keith was of Earth?"

"Can we talk about something _other_ than my non-Galra heritage, please." Keith interjected, clearly fighting the urge to twitch and failing at it. "It's not... it's not important."

"Keith's right." Pidge cut in, sensing that he was uncomfortable with this line of questioning- and as curious as she might be, she didn't want that. "We should be able to hide the castle in the dense gases of Jupiter. We don't want to risk bringing it any closer if we want to get in undetected."

"We have small research colonies on our planet's moon, and on Mars." Matt supplied. "They might be able to detect the Castle if we brought it too close."

Letting out a faint hum, Allura brought up a holoscreen, looking over the data on their solar system that they had provided her with. "Yes, I think that would be the best course of action. I am hesitant to leave the Castle alone, however, even if the Galra have no real presence in your system. It is imperative that Zarkon not be allowed to get his hands on the black lion."

"I can stay with the ship, princess." Coran volunteered. "Might be a bit of a tight squeeze, all five of us packed into one lion."

"Thank you, Coran." Allura told him, giving him a soft smile. "Well then, it would seem that we have made our course of action. Coran and I will prepare the ship as best we can. With the coordinates that you have provided us, we _should_ be able to wormhole straight to this _Jupiter_ of yours."

"How long do you think it'll take to get the Castle into working order?" Pidge asked. "I mean, not to knock Altean engineering, but it _has_ kind of has been ten thousand years since it last went anywhere."

"Oh, probably a dobosh or two." Coran told her. "But don't you worry, Number Three. My grandfather was the one who built this ship, so I know it like the back of my hand!"

"Guess mom's going to get her cleaning day after all." Matt remarked.

"Looks like it." Pidge said. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

If she had to be honest, she mostly just wanted to have the chance to tinker with Altean tech. To think that their people were so advanced _ten thousand years ago_... she couldn't _wait_ to get a closer look at what it was that made this castle-ship tick.

"Pidge is pretty good at fixing things." Keith said, finally choosing to rejoin the conversation. "She's the one that overrode the bio locks on our ship, and installed the hyperdrive."

"Not to mention fixed the engine with nothing but spare parts the one time you flew too close to the sun." Pidge pointed out.

"That was-!" Sputtering, Keith narrowed his eyes. "That was our _only_ option! I didn't hear _you_ offering any suggestions as how to get away from that Galra warship!"

Narrowing her eyes, she frowned. He had her there, dammit.

"Then don't mind if I take you up on that offer!" Coran beamed, more or less oblivious to their bout of bickering. "Looking forward to working with you, Number Three."

Returning his grin, she nearly brimmed with excitement. "Looking forward to working with you too, Coran."


	11. depart to reunite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His gaze lingered, as it always did, on the mark on its handle. When he had first been dragged onto a Galra ship, when he'd first seen the mark of the Galra Empire... he'd recognized it. It wasn't the same, but it was close enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, chapter eleven! It's here, it's done! I did kind of hope to touch a little more on Earth this chapter, but it kind of didn't happen. I still think that was like, the best possible place to end the chapter on though... @dreamworks let my boy Matt meet his momma.

"Can't sleep?"

There was a soft _click_ of claws behind her. Turning her head, she squinted in the dark, Keith's glowing eyes like a beacon. It was dark in the castle-ship- Arus was in its night cycle, and the Castle had matched it, dimming all the lights.

She had wandered her way onto the bridge, sitting on the same little plateau from which Allura had told them the blue lion's location from.

She had tried to sleep, really, she had- but after tossing and turning in her bed for what felt like hours, she had simply given up. Putting on the slippers that she had been given to protect her feet from the cold floor, she had grabbed her shirt, bundling herself up in it. Her room was climate controlled, but outside of that, the rest of the Castle could get awfully cold at this hour.

If it bothered Keith, she honestly couldn't tell. He had been given a set of pajamas, dug up from ten thousand year old clothing stores, just as she had, but he appeared to have not changed out of his usual clothes- though he had left the red and white jacket behind somewhere, as he had the boots that matched.

She got the impression that cramming his clawed feet into them hurt, so when they had downtime, he generally spent it barefoot. Made sense- the boots had come from Earth, and they had exactly been tailored with _claws_ in mind.

"Not really." Pidge told him, shaking her head. "I'm just... we're going back to Earth tomorrow, Keith."

There was a faint laugh at that, as Keith situated himself next to her. "Excited?"

"A little." She admitted, pulling her knees closer to her chest. "I just... I was hoping that when I went back, I would be able to bring _both_ dad and Matt home with me."

"One out of two's not bad." Keith observed, glowing eyes falling on her. "You'll find him, Pidge."

"I hope so." Interlocking her fingers, she rested her chin on her knees. "But you're right. At least I'll be bringing Matt home. Mom'll be so happy to see him."

She felt rather than saw his hand on her head, giving her hair a light ruffle. There was something to the habit that made her suspect that he had picked it up from someone else- maybe his human parent, she thought.

His father, she'd learned. He'd told Matt that much- that his mother had been Galra. He'd also told him that he'd never known her, and she wondered what it must have been like, to be raised without the parent whose heritage was made plain as day on your face. His human heritage was obvious just the same, but the Galra stood out more.

Normally she'd make a fuss, but for the moment, she just let him have it. It felt a bit good, if she had to be honest. When he drew his hand away, she almost frowned.

"I'm guessing the person in question's asleep, on account of that I could hear his snoring through the walls." Keith observed.

Letting out a laugh, Pidge grinned in spite of herself. "Yeah, he does snore pretty loud. We think he gets that from grandpa."

"Apparently Alteans snore too." Keith observed, and she didn't need to be able to see in the dark like he could to know that he was making a face. "At least, I _hope_ what I heard from Coran's room was snoring."

Her smile fell at that, lifting her head to study Keith. In the dark, it was next to impossible to make out the bags underneath his eyes, but she found herself wondering just how long he had been awake, if he'd been wandering the castle halls enough to know that. Had he even tried to get to sleep?

Coran and Allura's rooms were located in a different section of the ship than the ones they had been allotted. Guest rooms, near as she could guess, while the ones that they occupied were meant for more permanent residents. She still didn't fully understand how the castle-ship worked, but near as she could guess, it was designed so as to be stationary like a normal castle when needed.

"So all this time, you were born on Earth, huh?"

Her words were faint, but Keith's hearing was good. He heard her.

"I never said I wasn't." Keith observed.

...and he had a point there. He'd never once claimed that he _wasn't_ from Earth.

Which fell in line with what she understood about him. Keith didn't so much _lie_ , as he did _omit_. She sensed that while he was good at the latter, he was terrible at the former.

"Guess you're not actually an alien, then." Pidge noted. "Give me back my first contact, asshole."

"Technically we're _both_ aliens right now." Keith pointed out. "Unless you're going to tell me that you've actually been from Arus this whole time."

Jerking her head up, she blinked. In all honesty, she had never actually thought about it like that- that the moment she left Earth, _she_ became the alien.

"Whoa."

"Yeah, _whoa_." Keith echoed, letting out a faint snicker. "You gonna be okay there Pidge?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be okay." She told him. "So you're telling me that all this time, _I've_ been more alien than you?"

"I've been telling you that ever since we left Earth." Keith pointed out, arching a brow. "What do you _think_ I meant whenever I said that being human made you stand out?"

"...okay, you have me there." Pidge admitted. She had just... never really taken it that way, she guessed. "So... where on Earth were you born?"

He flinched a little at the question- but didn't seem to shy away from it, not this time. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me." Pidge told him.

"Texas."

"Tex-" Pidge began, before squinting at him. " _Texas?_ "

"Texas." Keith repeated, without a hint of irony to his voice. "I told you you wouldn't believe me."

Shit, he had her there. Out of all the places... she would have not expected Texas. Although... it did sort of make sense. There was a lot of open, empty space out in Texas, so if an alien ship was to land undetected somewhere on Earth, Texas would be a good place to do it.

Which must have happened at some point, given the whole half Galra thing.

Actually, come to think of it...

"So... what was your mother doing on Earth in the first place?" Pidge asked, unable to stop herself. "Do you know?"

"Pidge, I didn't even know what the Galra _were_ until-"

Keith froze, glowing eyes now downcast. Even in the dark, she could all but see him draw in on himself, as if he'd said more than he'd wanted to say.

"I'm going to go check on Red."

Rising abruptly, Keith was up and on his feet before she so much as had the chance to say anything. "Keith, wait-!"

But he was already out the door, the sound of the bridge doors closing behind him. Realizing now that she was on her feet just the same, she let out a long breath, slumping back down.

And here she thought she'd been getting somewhere with him.

Stretching out her legs, she let out a loud groan, debating going after him. It was probably better that she didn't- Keith liked to be left alone, and if he wanted company, he usually went to find it for himself.

But still... what had he meant by that? How had he _not_ known about the Galra?

Had his father never told him? How did he... he must have _noticed_. Even if he had been raised in total isolation, he would have still had his human father to compare himself to. Had he never questioned their differences before?

Or had...

...what if he hadn't always looked that way?

And if he'd... if Keith had looked more human at one point, what had changed?

* * *

Pressing his forehead against the red lion's leg, Keith fought the urge to scream.

At himself, mostly. What had he been thinking?

Letting out a loud groan, he lifted his head, only to lightly thunk it back into the red lion's leg. He'd screwed up. He'd said too much. Pidge would realize for sure now that he hadn't always looked this way, that he used to be _less_ Galra. Of course she would, she was smart.

He'd never tried to deny being half-human, or being from Earth... but even with both of those facts now being out in the open, it still didn't mean they'd put two and two together. He wasn't oblivious- he knew that his social skills were... well, _lacking_ , so it would have been simple for them to think that he'd just been raised somewhere in isolation.

But open up just a little about his past, and it was like the floodgates opened. Like he actually _wanted_ to talk to someone about it.

He didn't!

Nobody... he didn't want people to know. Not about any of it.

Groaning again, he turned around, all but collapsing on the red lion's foot. Resting his head against her leg, he closed his eyes, drawing in a long breath.

There was a soft rumble in the back of his mind, one he tried to ignore. _Trust_ , it said.

"Easy for you to say." Keith grumbled. "You're a giant robot cat."

_Trust_ , it repeated again.

Letting out a low growl, Keith opened his eyes. Glancing down at his hands, he took in a long breath, curling his fingers into the palm of his hands, letting his claws press into the fabric of his gloves.

It wasn't... it wasn't about _trust_. He _trusted_ Pidge. Trusted her with his life, on several occasions. She could be a bit of an imp sometimes, but if he told her something secret, she wouldn't tell.

It was about... he didn't want to be _pitied_.

It was better for them to believe he'd always appeared this way, rather than for them to learn that he'd been _transformed_ into this. It almost made him wish that he looked _more_ Galra, so that no one could even guess that he was half human.

He didn't want to be pitied, and sure as hell didn't deserve anyone's sympathy. But scorn? Hatred? He could deal with those- he'd _been_ dealing with those, ever since his father died, ever since he became the _problem child_.

For everyone except Shiro.

But... dropping his hands, he closed his eyes again, grateful that he could only see them when he looked into a mirror. Which... wasn't often. He tended to avoid them. He'd accepted being Galra, but it didn't mean he had to _like_ it.

He didn't want _Pidge_ to hate him- or her brother, or their mother. He knew that he should have left the forest, struck out on his own as soon as he'd given her the information she'd wanted, but something had made him stick around.

He'd tried to convince himself it was the food at the time. He'd spent most of his time in captivity eating as little as possible, terrified of the drugs that were in his food, that they'd started lacing in ever since he caught the attention of the witch. The more he understood about what was being done to him, the less he ate- so the temptation of a steady stream of food had been appealing.

But it wasn't an explanation that held much water, since he knew how to hunt. Sure, he hadn't done it since he'd lived with his father, and he'd only ever helped at the time, too young to do it himself- but he had eyes, and ears, and he'd watched everything his father had done. If necessary, he could live off the land, free of human contact.

Not like he could go into any town, not looking like this.

Opening his eyes, he reached behind him, drawing his knife. Crossing his legs, he rested the blade in his lap, turning it over in his hands.

His gaze lingered, as it always did, on the mark on its handle. When he had first been dragged onto a Galra ship, when he'd first seen the mark of the Galra Empire... he'd recognized it. It wasn't the same, but it was close enough.

Even before the word _halfbreed_ was uttered, he'd figured out that the knife his mother had left from him was Galra. That _he_ was Galra.

He still didn't know what the knife was. The Galra officer who had given it back to him had merely thrust it into his chest, asking no questions, though he swore it looked like he wished to. He'd merely told him to run, that if he wanted to escape from here, now was his only chance.

Something about a riot in the main prison block. Thinking back on it, he wondered what damn fool was stupid enough to try and pull something like that.

Fingers tracing the glowing mark, he frowned. He should probably tell the princess and the others about the Galra that had helped him escape, it could be important. But he didn't even know their name, only their rank- _lieutenant commander_ , denoted by their armor.

Maybe there were Galra out there who _weren't_ loyal to Zarkon. It was a comforting thought.

Maybe his mother hadn't just been some stranded solider of the empire, who had played an Earthling for a fiddle, then dumped the end result of it on him and left. He had spent countless hours in his cell wondering what would have happened if he'd been born more Galra, if she would have taken him with her, if he'd be a loyal solider of the empire by now if she had.

So the thought that she might not be... it was his one small comfort.

But telling the others?

He... just telling them that he had been held captive at Central Command felt like it was too much information already. But they'd... Te-Osh had a point. For the rebels, it was important to know just where the red lion had been held, where he'd stolen it from.

But talking too much about his time as a captive was dangerous. If he opened up too much... who knew what kinds of things that he would tell them.

There were some things that they were better off not knowing. If they found out...

...that would be the end.

And he... god help him, but he was _afraid_ of that end.

Allura probably already knew something was wrong with him. She could sense quintessence, and he... he had no idea what his own was like, but he could only imagine that it had been warped. As long as she didn't find out _how_ and _why_ , he might be able to stay here.

...and part of him? Part of him almost wanted to.

There was something almost... warm here, dangerously so. It had been the same way back on Earth, staying with Pidge and her mother. It was part of the reason why he had chosen to leave, to flee, before it could sink into him, before he could delude himself into thinking that this was something that would _stay_.

Here too, it would be the same. Once they found a new red paladin to replace him, one more suitable, it would be time for him to leave.

He'd be fine with that. He was no defender of the universe, never would be.

_Not true_ , the red lion rumbled, _home_.

He wished he could believe that.

But the only _home_ he had ever known was a shack in the middle of the desert, and that had been a long time ago.

* * *

Come morning, she did what she always did when Keith let too much slip.

Act like it never happened.

He was wary of her at first- in a manner that reminded her of a skittish cat, easily spooked. Once it became clear to him that she wasn't going to ask anything, he relaxed, once more growing casual in her presence. When it came time to launch the castle-ship, it was almost like nothing had happened at all.

She _wanted_ to talk to him about it- she really, seriously did- but she knew how Keith worked, and consequently, knew that was a _really_ bad idea. That he had opened up to her last night at all was a positive thing, and she didn't want to risk him choosing never to do it again because she got a little too aggressive.

He could talk when he was ready.

Even if she _was_ dying of curiosity.

Had Keith really looked more human at one point? What had he looked like? Why did he look more Galra now? Did it have something to do with his time as a prisoner? Was it an adaptation, some sort of survival thing, or had it been done on purpose? If so, _why_?

Actually, come to think of it... if he had been living on Earth before now, how had he ended up as a captive of the Galra Empire in the first place? Because no matter how she looked at it, if Keith didn't go into space of his own free will, it meant that the Galra would have had to have visited Earth at least twice.

Once for him to have been born, and then again, for him to have become the empire's prisoner.

...and why would they take one of their own kind as a prisoner anyways? Had they tried to get him to join him, only to have him refuse?

It wasn't like she hadn't thought about these questions _before_ , but the whole _grew up on Earth_ thing- in _Texas_ no less- certainly added a whole new element to the story.

But right. No questions. Nope, not her, no sir. Contrary to popular belief, she could, in fact, be respectful of people's boundaries.

When she wanted to.

She just... didn't always _want_ to.

Right now, her desire to not hurt Keith outweighed her curiosity, though it did leave her wondering just how he'd managed to worm his way into her life like this. To think, he used to just be some weird alien that crash landed in her backyard. Now they were apparently going to save the universe from tyranny together.

Funny how life worked out sometimes.

And besides, right now she was _dying_ to see how the Castle launched.

Seated in her chair- and it was _her_ chair, marked by glowing green panels much the same way Keith's was with red- Pidge watched with fascination as Allura and Coran made ready to launch the Castle. As near as she could gather, the castle-ship seemed to be some kind of blend of both science and magic- what the Alteans referred to as _alchemy_.

And while she was... skeptical of combining something as precise as science with something as vaguely defined as magic, she couldn't deny that the results were _amazing_. She could spend years studying the castle-ship alone, and never get tired of it.

That wasn't even touching on the _lions_.

And the chance to travel through _wormhole_? Sure, they had done that to get here in the first place, but it wasn't like she had the chance to see it being _made_. So suffice to say, her thoughts were fully occupied by many non-Keith things at the moment, on top of her growing excitement for her return to Earth.

"This _almost_ makes being abducted by aliens worth it."

Glancing behind her, she caught Matt's eye. There were other chairs on the bridge, but they were apparently to be occupied by the other paladins. Being in space must have taught Matt a thing or two about decorum, because he didn't try to plant himself in one the first chance he got.

Not like the trip would take that long anyways. It was almost depressing, knowing that a ten thousand year old ship that had sat gathering dust for all that time was way more advanced than anything humanity had been able to come up with.

"Almost?" Pidge asked.

"Almost." Matt told her with a shrug. "Nothing will _ever_ make up for the food."

"That bad, huh."

"That bad." Matt repeated. "I cannot tell you how much I am dying to have some of mom's meatloaf right now."

"Matt, you _hate_ mom's meatloaf." Pidge observed, cocking a brow.

" _Exactly_." He told her.

Shaking her head, she turned her attention forward, feeling as the engines roared, flaring to life, one by one. It sent a tingle up her spine, her breath hitching in her throat as the castle-ship lifted from the ground, taking them away from planet Arus.

She had been on many ships in her time, but this... this was something else.

Second, she thought, only to the green lion.

Oh man... she couldn't _wait_ to show her mother the green lion.

* * *

"Are you really sure you will be alright, Coran?"

Ah yes, there it was.

He'd been sensing the question brewing for some time now, but he'd half thought she might not ask it. She wasn't being honest, he knew- rather than asking him if he was alright, he knew what she really wanted to ask was if he wanted to come with them.

He could understand it. She'd woken to a world where she thought she was the last Altean alive. To have another one survive, and one that she knew so well at that... well, it was to be expected that it would make her hesitant to leave him behind.

"I'll be just fine, princess." Coran assured her. "Someone has to stay behind with the Castle, and I'll be able to get some work done while you're gone."

There was, in fact, still much work to be done around the Castle. In the past two quintants, with Number Three's help, he had managed to restore the most vital systems to full working order, but some of them still needed some work. This was as good a test flight as any- he would be able to double check his previous work to see if there was anything that he had missed before.

"I know, but I just..." She trailed off, letting out a long sigh. "I do not wish to leave you."

"I won't be going anywhere, I promise." Coran assured her again. "I'll be here when you get back."

That seemed to take some of the weight off of her shoulders, Allura drawing in a breath. "We will try to locate the blue lion as quickly as possible."

"Well now, don't rush too much." Coran advised her, casting a glance behind him. Turning on her heel, she followed his gaze, falling on the trio of Earthlings massed around the green lion. "Give them a chance to enjoy a taste of home."

There was a certain weight to his words, now that their own home was gone, vanished.

"Yes, of course." Allura said. "How silly of me."

There was... a hint, just a hint, of envy in her voice, but he did not begrudge her for it. Envy, yes, but there was nary a trace of resentment- not in her voice, nor in the soft gaze she watched the Earthlings with.

They were going home, if only for awhile.

"Do be sure to bring me back a souvenir, though!" Coran chirped.

"I will be sure to." Allura assured him. "I just hope the gift that I am bringing with me will be well received. This... _Colleen_ that we are to meet may not be an ambassador, but if I am to bring her children back into space with me, then I at least must _try_ to present something to her."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll love it." Coran reassured her. "Besides, she let one of her children go once, so I reckon she'll come around again."

"Yes, I suppose you are right." Allura said. "And I am looking rather forward to seeing more of this _Earth_."

"Yes well, do be careful, princess." Coran warned her. "I trust Number Two's insight on this one."

He would know best, being only half human on a planet where most of the populace had no knowledge of life outside of Earth. He could only wonder what growing up in such an environment was like, and could only pray that his words had not come from experience.

"Have no fear, Coran." Allura told him. "You do remember that father taught me how to change my form, do you not?"

"Ah yes, I _had_ forgotten actually." Coran admitted. "I suppose that would make things rather simple."

"There, see?" Allura told him, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "Nothing to worry about. Now, I suppose I should be going. Pidge seems to be getting a tad impatient."

"Ah yes, best not to keep them waiting any longer." Coran told her, giving her a curt nod. "Off with you now."

Watching as she made her way over towards the green lion, Coran could only smile, though it was not one that he wore with ease. This was not a burden he ever would have wished for her to carry, but he intended to be here, every step of the way, to ensure that she was not alone with it.

"Good luck, princess."

* * *

"Establishing last known locations of all known probes and satellites, and constructing a route around them."

Peering down over the back of her chair, Matt couldn't help but marvel at the ease with which his sister commanded the green lion. She had tried to talk him through it, something about some kind of a connection, a _bond_ , that existed between lion and paladin, and while he thought he got the gist of it, there was probably a lot that he didn't understand.

And likely wouldn't, unless he became one himself.

A paladin, that is. Not a giant robot lion.

Although that would _also_ be quite the experience.

"Would you listen to you," Matt said, "...you almost sound like a real pilot."

"I'd hope so, otherwise this is going to be a very short trip." Pidge noted, barely sparing him a glance- but he could tell she was grinning. "Besides, I had a good teacher."

"Only since you wouldn't stop bugging me about it." If Keith thought he was fooling anyone, he wasn't- Matt totally caught the pride in his voice.

He could understand it, he could! There was so much pride to be had in his little sister, and in so far as he could tell, Keith had stepped up to the role of big brother in his absence.

Oh man, he hoped he wouldn't have to fight Keith to get said role back. Because he would totally lose. Keith'd cream him. Maybe he could arrange some kind of joint custody...

"Should be a short trip." Pidge noted. "We'll land under the cover of darkness. Mom said she set up some landing beacons for us."

"That's mom for you, always thoughtful." Matt noted. "Probably has dinner waiting on the table and everything."

"After like, three days of eating nothing but food goo, I sure hope so." Pidge noted. "No offense, Allura."

"None taken." Allura said simply, lifting a hand. "The food goo is merely meant as a nutritional supplement, it does not reflect upon Altean culinary culture as a whole."

"I've had worse." Keith observed with a shrug.

"Same." Matt echoed.

"Glad you boys are bonding over your time as Galra prisoners, but at least one of you needs to actually focus on monitoring that satellite feed." Pidge noted.

"Checking for unregistered ghost satellites." Keith noted. "Looks like we're in the clear."

"All silent on the radio chatter." Matt mentioned.

"Is that Earth there?" Allura asked, peering through the cockpit. "It looks to be more water than land."

Looking out the window for himself, Matt felt his heart leap at the sight. There it was, shining like a jewel before him- Earth. Sure, in comparison to some of the other planets he had seen since traveling to space, it wasn't much to look at, but to him... to him it was like the ultimate treasure.

"That's cause it is." Pidge told her. "Alright, cross checking our course with all registered airline flights."

"What is an _airline_?" Allura inquired.

"Imagine looking out the window and seeing a giant flying lion." Matt joked, trying to steady himself with humor.

"Keep imagining it, because I'm not letting that happen." Pidge told him. "Alright, looks like we're in the clear. I'm bringing us down."

"Matt, are you _crying_?" Keith asked.

Oh dang, he was. Reaching up a hand, he wiped away the stray tear. "I'm just- it's Earth, man- _Earth_! When they took us... I never thought I'd see it again."

He could have sworn Keith's features softened. He understood, and it... knowing that he came from Earth, it made sense. He'd probably felt the same, once.

"Save your tears for when you actually see mom. Then you can cry as much as you want." Pidge told him. "I can see her landing beacons."

Against the dark of the night, they glowed, true to their name. Feeling his heart pounding in anticipation, Matt shifted on his feet. Soon he would be home- soon he would take his first breath of fresh Earth air since he had left for Kerberos what felt like a lifetime ago.

He'd get to see his _mom_.

It was with that thought in mind that he basically bolted out of the green lion as soon as it had landed, tripping over himself to get down the ramp. His mother was there, alit by the landing beacons, and he barely gave her a chance to so much as say his name before his arms were around her, holding her tight.

So what if he was nearly a grown ass man. He'd been away from Earth for too damn long, he was going to hug his mother and cry into her shoulder all he damn well wanted and nobody could stop him.

"I'm home, mom."

"Welcome home, son."


	12. code blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Looks like we're breaking into the Garrison after all." Matt noted, leaning over the back of her chair. "I was considering egging Iverson's car for revenge, but this sounds good too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey there, it's chapter twelve! I really did want to introduce Hunk this chapter but it just did not happen- but next chapter, for sure, the sunshine boy comes! In this chapter, someone finally gives Keith the hug he very much needs and deserves, Allura doesn't know what a Texas is, and everyone gets to have some cake. Can't plan espionage and theft without cake.
> 
> Until next time!

Her mother and Matt didn't part for what felt like ages, but nobody complained.

When they finally did, her mother held out her arms, a warm smile on her face as her eyes fell on her only daughter. She went without being asked, letting herself be enveloped in her mother's embrace.

It was soft, warm- she hadn't realized how much she'd missed it until she'd already left Earth. Closing her eyes, she let herself lean into it, feeling a sense of home that had eluded her till now.

"It's so good to see you, Katie." Her mother told her when they finally parted, still resting a hand on her shoulder. "You look well."

"It's good to see you too, mom." Smiling up at her, Pidge turned on her heel, flashing a grin towards Keith. "You too, Keith!"

Even without the landing beacons, it would have been easy to pinpoint him in the dark- the glowing eyes were a dead giveaway. He blinked in surprise, like he hadn't been expecting to be a part of this family moment.

She half thought he would say no- but instead he made his way towards them, uncertainty etched into his features. The hug caught him off guard- golden eyes going wide. He went stiff under her mother's touch, hands hovering as if he didn't know what to do with them.

"It's good to see you too, Keith." Colleen told him, drawing away from him, the embrace shorter than either of the two before, as if sensing his discomfort. "You've been eating properly, I hope."

"I-" Keith blinked, before shaking it off. "Yeah, just fine."

"Good." Colleen nodded. "You do look like you've got a bit more meat on those bones of yours. Now, I believe the three of you have someone that you need to introduce me to."

Oh right. If she was going to be honest, she had kind of half forgotten about Allura.

Clearing her throat, Pidge stepped back, indicating the Altean princess with a swoop of her hand. "Mom, this is Princess Allura, of planet Altea. Allura, this is mom."

It was a good thing that she had the foresight to program English into Allura's universal translator. She'd actually nearly forgotten about it, and had to scramble to make the adjustments last minute. From the look of it, it seemed to be working just fine.

"Colleen Holt." Colleen introduced herself, extending a hand. "It is an honor to have you here, princess."

"And it is an honor to be here, Colleen." Allura spoke, her tone possessing a certain elegance to it as she took Colleen's hand. That was a princess for you. "Though I do wish that it might be under better circumstances."

Her mother frowned at that, expression turning more grave. "This has to do with that awful empire, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I am afraid so." Allura told her. "I understand your husband was taken by them."

"He was." Releasing her hand, Colleen turned her gaze back towards Pidge. "Why don't you all come inside? There's dinner on the table."

"That would be lovely, thank you." Allura told her, a soft smile on her face. "But are you certain that no one will be able to see the green lion from here? Forgive me, but I am under the impression that your planet does not exactly receive regular contact from other worlds."

"We're the only house out here for miles." Colleen reassured her. "And you'd be right about that. You're my second alien, after Keith."

"Actually mom, Keith's from Texas." Pidge chirped.

"Wait, _what!?_ " Matt sputtered- oh right, she hadn't shared that with him yet. "Keith's from- you're from _Texas_?"

For his part, all Keith did was shrug. "Y'all never asked."

And now he was making fun of them- that was a relief, actually. After last night, it was good to see that he was back to his normal self.

To her mother's credit, she barely even blinked. "Out of town, huh?"

"Out of town." Keith repeated, the faintest of smiles on his lips.

(Allura, Pidge thought, looked like she was dying to ask what a _Texas_ was, but was fighting the urge, trying to remain diplomatic.)

"Okay, we can talk about Keith being a Southern Belle later," and she was pretty sure the half-alien in question sputtered at that, before outright glowering at her, "-right now, we've got more important things to discuss."

"And dinner to eat." Matt chimed in.

"That too." Pidge agreed.

With that, her mother escorted everyone inside. Though Allura masked it well, she caught her staring out of the corner of her eye, trying to drink in the unfamiliar environment she found herself in.

"Is this entire house made of _wood_?" Allura questioned, drawing closer to her side. "How quaint."

"Guessing they didn't have that back on Altea." Pidge observed.

"No, nothing of the sort." Allura said, shaking her head.

"Please, make yourselves at home." Colleen said, pulling out a chair. "Princess, for you."

Allura blinked, before flashing a soft smile towards the woman, taking the seat that was offered to her. "Thank you kindly."

"Think nothing of it." Colleen told her, taking a seat herself. Grabbing one across from her mother, Pidge flashed a quick grin towards Keith, who took the one next to her, her brother taking up the seat next to her mother. She had, in fact, brought out the good china- not to mention that she'd polished the silverware till it shone.

This was nice, she thought.

It would have been nicer still if her father were here... but she pushed such thoughts back. She would find him, she _would_.

"I can't tell you how much I missed your cooking, mom." Matt told her, clearly fighting the urge to just go ahead and dig right in. "Oh man, it smells _so good_."

"I made all your favorites." Colleen told him. "I thought there was a fifth coming with you all, though?"

"Coran had to stay back with the castle-ship." Pidge told her.

"Oh, I see." Colleen blinked, clearly wondering what a _castle-ship_ was, but not asking. "Did you change the paint job on your ship, Keith? I seem to recall Katie describing it to me as being red."

Gaze flickering towards her mother, Keith shook his head. "Not mine. Pidge's."

"It's a long story." Pidge said. "And part of why we're here."

"We believe that there is a Voltron lion here, on Earth." Allura told her.

"Voltron?" Colleen asked.

"Oh man, mom, it's totally cool." Matt said, beaming. "It's like... okay, so you've got these five robot lions, and then they combine to form a giant robot?"

"Turns out, I'm the green paladin." Pidge supplied.

"I believe this is a story you need to tell me from the beginning." Colleen said.

"Allura?" Pidge asked, glancing over towards her. "You wanna do it?"

"Yes, of course." Inclining her head, Allura turned towards Colleen. "My father built the Voltron lions ten thousand years ago, using the ore from a comet with unusual properties. The paladins of old became known as the defenders of the universe, using the strength of Voltron to protect peace throughout the cosmos."

Her gaze fell, lips curling into a tight frown. "But after Zarkon betrayed my father, the lions were split up, sent across the universe and sealed away so that he could not obtain them. I was put into cryosleep by my father, and only recently did I wake- thanks in no small part to the efforts of your children, I might add."

There was pride in Colleen's features, as her gaze flickered towards her and Matt alike, and Pidge couldn't help but glow a little under it.

Even if they _had_ only been in on it to make a quick buck. But hey, _space pirates_.

"So one of these lions is here on Earth?" Colleen questioned. "Keith mentioned something about a blue lion."

"That is correct." Allura told her, nodding her head. "The lions choose their own pilots, otherwise known as paladins. Your daughter is the chosen of the green lion, thus making her the green paladin. Keith was likewise chosen by the red lion. As they both make up the arms of Voltron, I believe that destiny may have conspired to draw them together."

_Destiny_. Honestly, that was the one part of this that Pidge still didn't know what to make of. She'd never been a big believer in things like _fate_ \- so the idea that she might have some grand destiny ahead of her?

Wild.

"We think the Garrison might have the blue lion." Matt observed.

There was a spark in her mother's eye then- one that she knew was that of realization, of a connection forged. "Mom?"

"I may be able to help you." Colleen told them. "Ever since Keith mentioned the Garrison the other day, I've been keeping tabs on their communications, and I overheard something that may be of interest to you."

"You hacked the Garrison feeds?" Keith asked, arching a brow.

" _Hacked_ is such a strong word." Colleen said, a soft smile on her face. "I prefer _listened in_."

Keith let out a snort, folding his arms in front of him. "Now I see where Pidge gets it from."

"What, you lived with us for like, nearly two months, and never realized?" Pidge asked, nudging him with her elbow. "So much for your powers of observation, Keith."

"Now, now, no fighting, you two." Colleen interjected. "I'm assuming it's called the blue lion due to it being blue?"

"That would be correct, yes." Allura stated, nodding her head. "Do you know something?"

"Possibly." Colleen told her. "There's been some encrypted chatter. I haven't cracked the code _just_ yet, but it would seem that the Garrison is working on a secret project."

"A secret project?" Matt asked.

"Code Blue." Colleen supplied. "That's what they're calling it."

"That _does_ sound relevant." Pidge observed.

"So I guess it's safe to assume the Garrison has the blue lion, then." Keith said, faintly clicking his tongue. "Of all the luck."

"Well, we'll just have to get it back from them." Pidge said. "Mom, you saved the recordings, right?"

"Of course." Colleen told her, inclining her head. "We can go over them after dinner, if you wish."

"I suppose negotiation is off the table." Allura remarked.

"Somehow I don't think the Galaxy Garrison is going to be all that hot on a pair of aliens waltzing up and demanding that they hand over a super weapon." Keith pointed out. "Figure they wouldn't be too hot about Matt here showing his face either, when he's supposed to be dead."

"Can't believe the Garrison just killed me off." Matt muttered.

"We'll just have to steal it from under them." Pidge said.

"Spoken like a true space pirate." Matt said, nodding his head. "That said, I get that this is important and all- but do you guys mind if we eat first?"

"Oh yes." Allura blinked. "Of course."

"Again, not like the Garrison will be able to get _into_ the blue lion." Keith said with a shrug. "Unless they somehow dug up its paladin with it."

"I almost wish that they would." Allura observed. "It would save us a fair amount of time."

"I mean, we're already two for two on human paladins." Matt pointed out. "That's like, two fifths of Voltron right there."

"I'm part Galra." Keith reminded him, barely so much as sparing him a glance. "And the red lion found me in space, so... pretty sure Pidge being human is just a coincidence."

"I would not be so sure." Allura observed, gaze flickering towards him. "For the two of you to be human- or at least, _part_ human, in your case- _and_ for the blue lion to be here, on Earth... there must be some kind of connection."

"Hey, maybe Matt's the blue paladin." Pidge ventured.

"Oh man, that would be _so_ cool." Matt whispered, sounding almost _giddy_ at the prospect. "What would that make me, princess?"

"A leg." Allura remarked.

"A leg..." Matt whispered, almost sounding reverent.

Unable to help herself, Pidge grinned. Fighting alongside Matt? She could get behind that.

It would be ideal, actually. She didn't really get it, but from the sound of it, in order to form Voltron, the paladins would have to link their minds- and she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that. With Matt and Keith, yeah, she'd be fine... but the idea of trusting her mind, at least a piece of it, to some stranger she'd never met before?

She wasn't so sure about that.

And if _she_ wasn't sure about that- sparing a glance over towards Keith's direction, she fought the urge to grimace.

She could definitely understand Keith's reasons for being so closed off- even to her. Even though he'd opened up to her, last night's events had proven that he still had plenty of walls up. So if _she_ wasn't all that hot on linking minds with someone she barely knew, she could only imagine how _Keith_ probably felt about it.

But that was a concern for another time. They were still two lions and three paladins short, and without those, there would be no Voltron.

Destiny, she thought, should have done a better job.

* * *

Code Blue must have been serious, given how thorough the encryption was.

Not that it mattered much. She hadn't spent the past half year in space hacking into alien tech to be tripped up by anything that the Galaxy Garrison could throw at her.

So cracking the Garrison's code? Piece of cake.

(Which, incidentally, her mom had made.)

Once she did, she leaned back in her chair, letting out a low whistle. Because that sure as hell sounded like the blue lion. From the sound of it, their discovery was fairly recent.

"Looks like we're breaking into the Garrison after all." Matt noted, leaning over the back of her chair. "I was considering egging Iverson's car for revenge, but this sounds good too."

"There will be no such waste of eggs on _my_ watch, young man." Colleen's voice was sharp, and she didn't miss the way her brother flinched out of the corner of her eye.

"But you're fine with him breaking into the Galaxy Garrison, huh?" Keith observed, the edges of his lips twitching in a faint smile.

"They _do_ have something that doesn't belong to them. If Iverson is in charge of this project, I doubt he'll give it up that easily." Colleen remarked- and Pidge didn't miss the low hum Keith let out in agreement.

So not only was Keith familiar with the Galaxy Garrison, but he was also familiar with Commander Iverson. Worth noting.

"Do you know where they are keeping it?" Allura asked, peering at the monitor over her shoulder, squinting at the words as if this would somehow cause them to make more sense.

Spoken word was one thing, but _written_ word? That was another. She had created a program that could translate both Common and Galran to English nigh instantly, but she'd never had cause to create one that did the reverse- nor the reverse, but in _Altean_.

"Looks like it's located somewhere in their main campus." Pidge told her. "Which doesn't actually give us that much to go off of. Their main campus is _huge_."

"It's not giving us a ton to go off, is it?" Matt asked, frowning.

"They might be keeping most of their communications internal." Pidge remarked. "If we were able to infiltrate the main campus, we might be able to get more information about where exactly they're holding it, not to mention what security measures they have in place."

"How would we do that?" Keith asked. "It's not like Matt can just come back from the dead."

"Aw, but that would be _fun_." Matt half whined.

"Yeah, until someone mistakes you for a zombie, and shoots you." Keith remarked.

"That sounds less fun." Matt agreed.

"I _think_ I might have a way in, actually." Pidge told them, bringing up the Garrison's official website. "Looks like luck is on our side- they're opening up their campus to prospective students for the weekend. I can pose as a would be cadet, slip away from the tour, and get the information we need."

"I don't know, Pidge." Keith frowned. "Sounds risky."

"No offense Keith, but I'm the only one who could." She pointed out. "You and Allura kind of stand out, and Matt's supposed to be dead."

"Actually," Allura interjected, "-I _may_ be able to assist you."

"How?" Keith asked, arching a brow. "No offense, princess, but you don't look _that_ human."

There was almost a hint of resentment in his tone. Biting her lip, her gaze flickered between the two of them- in a pinch, Allura would pass for human far quicker than Keith would. That _had_ to sting.

All the more so if he'd once _looked_ human.

"Allow me to show you."

Before she could question Allura further, the Altean princess took a slight step back, drawing in a long breath, closing her eyes. She was grateful for it, for in the next instant, Pidge felt her jaw drop, Allura's form changing before her very eyes.

Her pointed ears became round, white hair darkening until it was a dark brown color. Her Altean marks did not vanish, but merely changed colors- from pink to a light brown, several shades lighter than the rest of her. When she opened her eyes, her pupils had changed- black, rather than lavender.

She looked... well, _human_.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Keith glower, but if he wanted to say something, he instead bit his tongue.

"Alteans," she began, a faint hint of a smile on her face, "-are a chameleon-like people. We are able to blend in with the local populations."

"Whoa." Matt whispered, eyes wide. "That's amazing, princess! What else can you do?"

"Well there _are_ limits. It is not as if I can grow any extra limbs, for example." Allura told him, giving him a soft smile, once more assuming her natural form. "But with this, at least Pidge will have someone to watch her back."

"I'll have to whip up some fake identities for us." Pidge observed. "Shouldn't be a problem."

"Then it is settled." Allura said. "We shall go to this _Galaxy Garrison_ , and retrieve whatever information they might possess on the blue lion and its whereabouts."

"We'll need somewhere to set up." Matt pointed out. "Like a base of operations, or something."

Allura blinked. "Will this _lake house_ not suffice?"

"Too far." Matt told her. "The Garrison's like across the country from us."

"I might know a place."

Jerking her head back to look at Keith, Pidge blinked. That she hadn't expected. "Really?"

Keith, for his part, simply shrugged. "I haven't been there in awhile, so I'd have to scope it out first, but I know a place that might work. It's remote enough that you could even bring the green lion."

Exchanging a glance with Matt, Pidge frowned. "By yourself?"

"I don't want to hear that from the person planning on infiltrating the Garrison." Keith told her, cocking a brow. "Besides, I'll be fine. All I need is a way to get there."

"You sure?" Matt asked. "Because you kind of..."

"-you stand out." Pidge finished.

_Touche_ , Keith seemed to mutter under his breath. "I'll manage. I can leave as early as tonight, and be there in time to rendezvous with you this weekend."

"You're always welcome to spend the night, Keith. No need to rush out." Colleen told him, frowning. "I'm sure you must be tired."

Was there ever a time when Keith _didn't_ look tired, Pidge couldn't help but observe.

"The faster we can get the blue lion, the better." Keith told her, shaking his head. "You have anything I can use?"

"There's a hoverbike me and dad were working on before we left for Kerberos." Matt offered. "It should still be here."

"I haven't moved it." Colleen said. "It's out back. I can show you the way."

"Then I guess Keith's leaving." Pidge noted, frowning. Part of her didn't want to let him go- but realistically, she knew there wasn't much she could do to stop him. "Let us know if you accidentally become some dusty town's new cryptid on the way there."

"As fun as that sounds, I'd rather not." Keith said.

"Spoilsport." Pidge said.

"What should I do?" Matt asked. "I mean, I can't just sit around while everyone else is doing something."

"Depending on what we find, we might need all of us to get the blue lion out." Pidge said. "I'm assuming we want to try and attract as little attention as possible."

"Well yeah, we don't want Zarkon paying attention to Earth." Matt said. "I mean, if the blue lion is here, there's a chance he might, right?"

"It is possible." Allura observed, her gaze flickering towards Keith. "Clearly, the Galra had already visited your planet."

"Twice, at least." Keith told them.

"Do you think he is aware the blue lion is here?" Allura asked.

"All I know is that when they found me, they were looking for something else." Keith told her. "But they never said what."

"How long ago was that?" Pidge asked.

"I was fourteen, so-," frowning, Keith's brows knit together, clearly trying and failing to do the math, "I- how old is S- the pilot of the Kerberos mission?"

"Shiro?" Matt blinked, briefly exchanging a glance with her. "He's twenty-five, I think."

"Huh." Keith blinked. "Four years, then. Guess I'm eighteen."

"Wait, you're telling me you didn't know that until just now?" Pidge asked.

"Lost track of time." Keith shrugged, as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"The Galra aren't big on keeping their prisoners on a regular schedule." Matt told her. "I'd pretty much lost track of it too, before Te-Osh rescued me."

"Huh." Pidge frowned. "Makes sense."

What _didn't_ make sense, she thought, was Keith determining time by someone else's age. Did he... was it possible that Keith _knew_ Shiro, somehow?

Come to think of it, he _had_ asked about him, back when she'd first reunited with Matt. He'd passed it off as a question meant to help her at the time, but what if he had a personal interest in finding him?

For a moment, her thoughts flashed back, far back- to the day after she had first met Keith, when he had been looking through her files on the Kerberos mission. She hadn't thought about it in a long time, but she'd definitely heard his breath catch in his throat back then.

What _had_ that been about?

She wanted to ask, really, she did- but later. Right now they had a mission to focus on.

"Well if it's been four years since then, there's a chance they might have decided the blue lion isn't here." Pidge said. "Although the fact that they had scouts at the edge of our system is kind of..."

"Maybe the blue lion was why Keith's mom was here?" Matt suggested, sparing him a glance. "Keith, do you-?"

" _No_." Cutting him off, Keith's eyes narrowed. "Like I said, I don't know anything about my mother."

"Well," clearing her throat, Allura stepped in, "-we all appear to have things that we each need to take care of. I will contact Coran about our current plans, and let him know that we are likely to be away from the castle-ship for awhile."

"I'll see if I can dig up anything else on Code Blue." Pidge said, gaze lingering on Keith for a moment longer.

"I... actually don't have anything to do right now." Matt admitted. "I'll go wash the dishes."

"I'll get ready to leave." Keith said, turning to Colleen. "Can you show me where the hoverbike is?"

"Of course." Colleen told him, nodding her head.

"You have your com link, right?" Pidge asked, glancing back towards him.

"I've got it." Keith told her, flashing her a faint smile. "You take care of yourself, Pidge."

"You too, Keith."

* * *

He caught himself taking a deep breath of air as he stepped outside.

When he had first stumbled out of the red lion, disorientated and confused, it had been the scent of the air that had brought him back to his senses. His sense of smell had always been strong, but there had been something in the scent that stirred a part of him, nostalgic, calming.

_Home_.

He had gotten used to the scents of the Galra Empire- of the ore their ships were forged of, the metal of their sentries, of sweat clinging to purple fur. The rank odors of the main prison block, where he had spent the early part of his captivity, and the foul odors of the witch's lair, where he had spent the rest- he knew them by heart.

To smell fresh air- fresh _Earth_ air- had cleansed something in him.

(It had only been his imagination.)

The scent of lake air was... he'd been bounced around all over the place, but he'd never been to a _lake_ before. It was new, but it still held that nostalgic scent, the one of home, of safety.

Which was stupid, he thought. He wasn't safe on Earth anymore.

He wasn't safe _anywhere_.

But even so... the prospect of returning to the desert, feeling the sun beat down overheard, the sand beneath his feet- it filled him with anticipation, as much as it frightened him.

He'd been born in the desert, raised there- but he'd also been _taken_ in the desert. And if the blue lion had been there, the whole time, then...

He almost didn't hear Pidge's mother when she spoke.

"Here she is." She told him. "She's an older model, but they made some improvements to the design, so you should make good time."

Shaking off his thoughts, Keith gave her what he knew was a strained smile. Sometimes he didn't know how to deal with this woman- not because he didn't like her, but because he _did_.

She was so... so _nice_ , that it almost made him uncomfortable. He wasn't used to people being _nice_ \- especially not adults. He hadn't expected it when he thought he was human, and he sure as hell didn't expect it from anyone _now_. Clenching his fists, he felt the bite of his claws, for a moment, flashing back to that time in the bathroom, nail file in one hand, blood seeping out from the other.

Then he shook it off again.

She never brought it up, so why should he?

"Thanks." Keith told her. "I'll bring it back."

"Don't you worry about that." Colleen told him. "You just stay safe. There should be a helmet you can use around here somewhere. I think you can tint the visor."

His face fell at the comment, knowing what she meant. To hide his face.

"That'll help." Keith told her, forcing back anything that he was feeling. "Thanks."

"Ah, here we are." Plucking it up from where it lay, Colleen lightly tossed it to him, which he caught with ease. He'd always had good reflexes.

They were better, now.

_"He will become part of a new breed of soldiers,"_ the witch's voice whispered into his ear, and he had to tell himself it was just a memory, _"-better than any the Galra Empire has ever seen."_

"You know how to fly one of these, I'm hoping." Colleen said.

"I'm a little out of practice." Keith admitted. "But I've flown them before."

With his father. With Shiro.

Pushing aside those thoughts, he rested one hand on the frame of the hoverbike. He wondered if his dad's was still there, how long it would take to get the dust and sand out of its many parts, to get it working again.

When he'd died, he'd hiked several miles into town, where he'd ended up being picked up by child services. He'd never told them where he lived, where he came from. His father had no registered address. The shack was so remote, it was probably still there.

Part of the reason he wanted to go ahead was to clean it up, to hide anything that might connect it to his past. The other reason... he just wanted to see it again. He _needed_ to see it again.

Maybe there was something there... some clue that his father had hidden, about his mother. Something that would tell him that maybe she _wasn't_ just another heartless soldier of the empire, that _he_ wasn't just another cog of the empire, albeit one too stupid to realize it.

All he had of her was her knife.

Hell of a thing to leave behind for a child.

Swinging his leg over the hoverbike, he got a feel for it. It was a different model than ones he'd flown before, and he was taller now than the last time he'd sat in the pilot seat of one. Not by much- if there was one damn Galra trait he'd actually _like_ to have, it was the height.

"Are you sure you want to leave now?" Colleen asked. "You'd have time to make it even if you left tomorrow morning."

"I'll be fine." Keith told her, tugging on the helmet, crinkling his nose at the musty smell that clung to it. "Better if I travel under the cover of darkness anyways."

For the span of a moment, he almost thought she would let it go.

"You don't sleep, do you?"

Fingers clenching, Keith's breath hitched in his throat. He thought he'd been doing a good job of hiding it, that nobody had noticed- he couldn't do a damn thing about the bags under his eyes, but as long as he pretended to be fine, maybe nobody would pick up on it.

Because he didn't.

He didn't sleep. He hadn't slept in... god, who even fucking knew. It had been a long time. Constantly being awake had fucked with his sense of time more than he was willing to admit.

He wasn't sure _why_ his inability to sleep got to him so much- he could function more or less fine without it, they'd _made_ him that way- but it did. Maybe because it was just one more thing- one more damn thing the Galra had taken from him, not even allowing him refuge in his own dreams.

Not that he'd ever had a dream in his life.

Closing his eyes, Keith let his grip on the controls grow slack. "No."

No point in lying.

"Don't-" he began, drawing in a shaky breath, "-don't tell Pidge."

Colleen frowned, for a long moment, not saying anything- before she placed a careful hand over his, giving it a light pat. "I won't tell her. But you should talk with her at some point. The two of you are friends, aren't you?"

Friends.

He felt something leap at the word- god, he'd never had a _friend_ either. There had been Shiro, yeah, but he was... he was more of a _brother_ , than a friend. But a friend was...

...not something he could have. Not something he could keep.

_Don't get ahead of yourself, Kogane._

Sucking in a breath, he forced a smile. "Yeah. I'll talk to her."

She didn't look convinced- at this point, _he_ was convinced that Pidge's mother had some kind of sixth sense for bullshit- but she didn't force the issue either. Instead, she drew her hand away, giving him a nod of her head.

"Good luck."

Boy, could he ever use some of that.

"Thanks. Tell Pidge and Matt I'll see them later."

He _meant_ it- as much as some part of him wanted to take this as a chance to cut and run, to hide himself away where no one could find him.

Maybe someday- but not until he'd helped them find the rest of the Voltron lions. Once they had them all, once they had found paladins for the rest... _then_ he would leave.

As long as he stayed, he'd always be the weak link.


	13. roots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge had contacted him that first afternoon, telling him that she had gotten things sorted with their fake identities. _Pidge Gunderson_ and _Allura Altea_ were all set to attend the Galaxy Garrison's open house that weekend, and no, Keith was not allowed to make fun of her naming sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how about that season six, huh? I think we can all agree that the two most important parts of the season was Keith showing up fifteen minutes late with his mom, a space wolf, a random Altean and the way Lotor just... fucking bounced after Allura threw him. There he go. They animation staff totally did not need to do that, and yet they did and every single time I think abut it, I literally cannot stop laughing.
> 
> On the other hand I gotta get into a fist fight with dreamworks for not giving Keith's dad a name. Consider this a call out post.
> 
> Oh right so... next chapter! Here we go! I actually changed the planned plot for this one like, halfway through and scrapped most of what I'd written because it wasn't working out like I'd hoped, so looks like we get Lance in this chapter as well as Hunk! There they are, them boys!

His travels were so without event, that it was almost boring.

It was a good thing, he guessed, taking a bite out of a candy bar that he had _acquired_ at a gas station. Shiro would scold him about stealing if he could see him now, but at this point, he'd gone so far down the whole space pirate lifestyle that he'd kind of stopped caring.

Besides, if he could see him now, wearing the face of one of his captors, he doubted petty theft would be Shiro's main concern. Letting out a faint snort, he shoved the wrapper into his pocket- he was a _thief_ , not a goddamn _litterbug_. Tucking his helmet back on, he started the hoverbike back up.

God, he'd missed this.

Flying the red lion was like nothing he had ever known, but there was something comforting about the hum of the hoverbike as he flew through the air. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed the sensation until he'd had cause to experience it again.

By his estimation, it wouldn't be long now before he reached the desert. There were some benefits to never needing to sleep- he could travel non-stop, or close enough to it. Sleep might be beyond him, but all his other bodily functions worked just fine- even if he suspected he could go without food for a lot longer than most people.

(Didn't mean he liked to. Starving himself brought back bad memories.)

Pidge had contacted him that first afternoon, telling him that she had gotten things sorted with their fake identities. _Pidge Gunderson_ and _Allura Altea_ were all set to attend the Galaxy Garrison's open house that weekend, and no, Keith was not allowed to make fun of her naming sense.

It chafed at him that Allura- an alien, with no human blood- could pass for one with more ease than he could, but he tried not to let it get to him. She'd had her _entire people_ wiped out- he didn't feel right begrudging her over something so minor.

He told Pidge he'd send the coordinates to the rendezvous point once he scoped it out. He doubted things had changed much in his absence- it was close enough to the Garrison that it made for the ideal hiding spot, but far enough away that they would never find it unless they already knew what they were looking for. Under the cover of darkness, it would be a simple matter to land the green lion there.

They'd need it, if they were going to get the blue lion out.

As much as Allura wanted to keep things quiet, that was probably going to be impossible. There was no subtle way to steal a giant robot cat, he knew that much from experience.

But if he could steal one out from under the noses of Central Command, by himself, he sure as hell could steal one from the _Galaxy Garrison_ , especially now that he had an actual _team_ behind him.

For now, at least.

Pushing that thought aside, he took the next exit. It had been so long since he had come out this way, but he knew the path there by heart. Even if he didn't, he knew the _coordinates_ , and this hoverbike had GPS, so either way, he wasn't about to get lost.

The closer he drew to the desert, the more excited he felt himself getting. Sure, he had been snatched up from the middle of it, while trying to trail some kind of weird energy- which in hindsight, _might_ have been the blue lion- but to him, the desert was still _home_.

None of the other kids at the orphanage understood how he could be so fond of what to them was nothing more than a vast stretch of rocks and sand, but they had never seen the desert like he had. His father had taught him about its wonders and its horrors, and even now, he still caught himself clinging to the memory of watching stars on the roof of their tiny shack.

It would never be the same.

His father was gone now. And he was changed.

He couldn't even go out in the open without hiding his face on his own _home planet_. In space, he got hateful, mistrustful looks for being part Galra, but on Earth, they'd just see him as a freak.

Which wasn't wrong. He definitely was that.

No different than he was when he'd left, just way more obvious, he thought grimly. Being the _weird kid_ was something that stuck with you.

Deep into the desert, he yanked off the helmet, shaking out his hair- which, fine, it had stopped being _hair_ a long time ago, but damned if you'd catch him calling it _fur_. For all that it had changed, the way the desert wind whipped through it as he drove his hoverbike was the same, and for a moment, if he closed his eyes, he could almost forget that he'd changed.

But then he'd open them, catch sight of his clawed, purple fingers, and remember.

He parked the hoverbike some distance away from the shack. It had been years since he'd last come here, so he couldn't say for sure if it were still safe or not. Making the rest of his way on foot, for once he actually felt _grateful_ for his newly grown third eyelid, almost enough to wish he'd had them when he'd lived out here.

At the sight of the shack, however, he had to stop.

It was... the place had never been in great repair, there was only so much upkeep one could do to it, given where it was. But while it was showing its age, it was also very much just the same as when he had left it- after his father died, after he'd run out of food and had been forced to hike to town.

It was almost too much for him to bear.

Part of him yearned to go to it, to throw all caution to the wind and just _sprint_. It was the closest thing he had to a home, and here it was, before him, when he thought he'd never see it again.

But the other part of him wanted to shrink back, to go back the way he came and pretend he saw nothing. If he went there, as he was now, he couldn't help but feel as if he would be _tainting_ it.

But he wasn't here for himself, and that was the tipping point. Drawing in a long breath, Keith squared his shoulders.

He had to go.

The trek to the shack was a short one, but one that was fraught with memories. He hadn't even been aware how strange his childhood had been until his father had died, but it was the one thing about his past he wouldn't change for the world. Maybe it had been isolated, but his father had been there, and for him, it was all he needed.

He didn't even _think_ about his mother until after he'd died, when he realized that everyone else had something he didn't. When he'd been marked as an orphan with a runaway mother.

He wondered what he'd think if he saw him now- would he accept him, embrace him, just as he always had? He had raised him knowing that he was half-alien, half- _Galra_. He _wished_ he could see him now- he had so many questions, about his mother, about _himself_.

Exhaling, he lingered in front of the door for longer than was probably necessary. After all this time, there was still a trace of his father's scent that clung to the place. Taking it in, he rested his hand on the doorknob, before steeling himself, swinging it open.

It wasn't locked. It never was.

Inside, things were much as he had left them- though covered now in a thick layer of dust and sand. The way the floorboards creaked underneath his boots... he knew that sound, bringing him back to another time.

A happier time.

Forcing himself not to dwell on it, Keith stepped inside. Everything was there- making his way over towards the wall where his father kept his books, he pulled one out, blowing dust off the cover. It proved to be a mistake, causing him to hack, reminding him just how much more sensitive his nose was now.

Ugh. At least his third eyelid was doing its job, bizarre as the new piece of anatomy was, keeping his eyes from watering, otherwise they surely would have.

Cracking open the book, he scanned it as if it would reveal some kind of clue. He had always known that his father was doing some kind of research out here, but he had been too young to understand what, and he never brought him with him. Setting the book back, Keith turned on his heel, gaze scanning the dusty shack.

He had to wonder if it were merely a coincidence that this place was so close to where the blue lion had been hidden. Glancing down at his hands, he balled them into fists, as if trying to hide the purple that stained his fingers.

He wanted to believe that his memories of his father weren't memories of a man who had been willing to betray his own people. Maybe it was naive of him, with all the darkness he had seen since, but he wanted to cling to that one last piece of his past that hadn't been tainted by the Galra Empire.

Even if that was a lie. He existed, so his father already had.

Unclenching his fists, his gaze landed on his father's corkboard, white cloth turned yellow from the thick layer of sand that clung to it. He only had vague memories of it, never having cause to see it often.

Striding across the room, he ripped the sheet off, sending dust flying everywhere. This time he covered his nose and mouth, keeping himself from breathing in sand, and even though he didn't need to, he found himself shutting his eyes.

When he opened them again, he felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach.

Eyes frantically scanning the corkboard, he felt himself take a step back. Carvings of a blue lion leapt out at him, captured in photographs. Pidge had told him how the temple of the green lion had been covered with carvings of it, ancient as the lion itself.

The sheet slipping from his grasp, Keith felt despair grasp at him- if his father knew about the blue lion, then his mother- his _Galra_ mother- must have known about it as well. He didn't want to think, didn't want to _believe_ that...

No.

Drawing in a breath, he felt the despair subside. If that was true, then something wasn't right.

The Galra had come back to this planet, to this place- but they hadn't found the blue lion, they'd found _him_.

The blue lion was still here, in Garrison hands.

The Galra Empire didn't know where it was.

His mother, whoever she had been... she _hadn't_ told anyone about what she had found. Reaching back, he rested a hand on his knife, drawing in a another long breath. He didn't know what kind of person his mother had been, but at the very least, she hadn't sold out Earth.

She hadn't sold out _hope_.

Gritting his teeth, Keith took a step forward, grabbing the photographs, the maps, balling them all up. He hated destroying what his father had worked on, but he couldn't let the others see this. He wanted to believe that they would see it as he had, wanted to have _faith_ in them, but he couldn't let himself do that.

He wanted to cling to their trust for as long as he could.

So instead he destroyed the evidence- all of it.

But not before getting a good look at the map. He still had plenty of time before nightfall, and there was something he wanted to confirm.

He didn't stop there either. Everything that could connect this place to him, he found, gathering in a pile outside. Pictures, old memos, _everything_ \- he took it and he burned it, lighting it all up with his father's old lighter.

Once it was done, he took a step back, collapsing in the sand. Burying his face in his hands, he took in a deep, shaky breath. For the first time since he had caught his reflection, pupilless, _inhuman_ golden eyes staring back at him, he felt overcome by a sense of despair, of loss- of knowledge that he could never again go back to what he once had.

For however much it had been worth.

He wanted to cry, but he couldn't even do that.

So instead he forced himself to his feet, making his way back into the shack. Fingers grazing the now empty corkboard, they stopped on the one thing he hadn't been able to throw out- the picture his father had taken with him, shortly before he had died.

His human face, with human eyes, stared back at him.

Biting his lip, hard enough to draw blood, he yanked the photograph off the corkboard, nearly balling it up in his fist- before he stopped, his shoulders slumping.

Instead, he folded it up, carefully tucking it away in one of his pouches. He couldn't go back to the past, but that didn't mean he had to throw it _all_ away.

With that done, and the fire put out, Keith drew in and let out a shaky breath, waiting until he was certain he wouldn't betray himself to contact Pidge, and send her those coordinates.

* * *

After moving the borrowed hoverbike closer to the shack, he set out on foot. _Made to handle hostile environments_ , he muttered underneath his breath, hearing the echo of the witch's words in his own.

He didn't expect to run into anyone else this far out in the desert, so he left the tinted helmet behind. If any human did happen to see him, he was pretty confident he could knock them out before they had a chance to do anything.

_If_ there was anyone this far out in the desert, then they were probably with the Garrison. The last thing they needed was for someone to go back and warn them.

His instincts proved right.

He caught the scent on the wind as he drew near, feeling his body tense in response. Humans- and no small number of them. Using the rocky terrain to his advantage, he pressed himself close against a boulder, peering down towards the mouth of the cave the map's coordinates lead him to.

He recognized those vehicles right away. Maybe he hadn't been with the Garrison that long, but he had a good memory. Even if he didn't, he'd clung to his memories of Earth so hard during his captivity, that even small details started to stick out after awhile.

The Galaxy Garrison was here.

Narrowing his eyes, he drew as close as he dared. The _last_ thing he needed was for them to catch him. At best, they would identify him as a hostile alien. At worst...

...at worst, someone would remember him. _Recognize_ him.

He'd already been a test subject once, he didn't care to repeat the experience with the other half of his heritage.

There were two guards posted at the entrance to the caves, and for a moment, he debated taking them out. He quickly dismissed it- if he did that, it would serve as a huge red flag that someone other than them was interested in the blue lion.

The element of surprise had worked before, the last time he stole a lion, so he figured it would work out here too. Especially since all he would be doing was taking it from the Galaxy Garrison, which was basically a piece of cake after snatching one from under Zarkon's nose.

Granted, he could _pilot_ that one, but still...

Blowing out a breath, Keith pushed aside the thought. He wasn't doing it alone this time. He would have thought that after spending so much time working together with Pidge, he'd grasp that a little easier, but the idea of people having his back was still alien to him.

Ear twitching, he turned his head, catching a faint sound. Voices, two of them- and close. They must of been upwind, considering the fact that he couldn't smell them. Checking it with a finger, he scanned the area, trying to determine where the voices were coming from. They were close, but not close enough for him to make out what they were saying.

Gaze lingering on the entrance to the cave for a moment longer, he silently crept away, sticking low. They didn't seem like scouts, and their voices, when he began to make them out a bit clearer, sounded young. Maybe a year or two younger than him?

(God, how was he _eighteen_? He felt like he'd been held captive a lot longer. His sense of time must have been more fucked than he thought.)

Cadets? It wasn't impossible, but what would a pair of cadets be doing out here?

Sure enough, when they fell into his line of vision, there they were, clad in Garrison orange. Crouching behind a boulder, Keith frowned, able to listen in on what they were saying just fine from this range. He might have been altered against his will, but he couldn't claim that some things didn't come in handy.

"-I'm telling you Lance, this is a bad idea," the bigger one said, and even if he couldn't tell it from his scent, he _sounded_ nervous, "-what if we get caught?"

"Oh come on," the thinner one- _Lance_ , if what the other cadet had said was correct- whined, "-aren't you the least bit curious about what's going on here? I mean, _we're_ the ones who found that thing, right?"

_That thing_? Narrowing his eyes, Keith studied the cadets more closely. They couldn't be talking about the blue lion, could they?

"I mean, yeah, but-" the other cadet began, "-they were pretty specific about the whole _forgetting about it_ part. I, for one, think we should be doing just that."

"What, forget about something as cool as that?" Lance hissed. "I'm telling you Hunk, that thing called out to me."

Now _that_ caught his attention.

"Are you sure that wasn't just a weird dream?" The bigger cadet- _Hunk_ \- asked. "I mean, it was Meatloaf Monday, and you _did_ eat the meatloaf, so maybe it was just, you know... indigestion?"

"Indigestion doesn't cause weird dreams, Hunk." Lance told him. "...but yeah, that was a mistake."

Fighting the urge to let out a snort, Keith knew he couldn't leave this alone. If what this _Lance_ said was true, then there was a very good chance he could be the blue paladin.

At least, if the whole paladin thing worked the way he thought it worked.

(And also a goddamn _idiot_ , if he ate the Garrison's meatloaf.)

He needed to talk to them, that much was clear- but he couldn't do it here. They couldn't have gotten here on foot, not from the Garrison, so they must have taken a hoverbike. It would have made too much noise, so they had probably parked it somewhere further away from here so as to not attract attention.

The scent of oil and metal leapt out at him. Gaze flickering back towards the cadets, he watched them for a moment longer, before he crept away, making for their hoverbike. They'd done a lousy job of hiding it, probably having not thought through their little espionage activities in the least.

Running a hand over it, he frowned, trying not to let it bring back memories. It had been on a hoverbike like this that he had flown with Shiro- back before he'd even joined the Garrison.

Back when he was just a runty shrimp of a kid that Shiro had taken pity on.

(He would never claim it was pity. Keith knew better. It was _always_ pity.)

Talking to the cadets was a risk, but a necessary one. Even if the lanky one _wasn't_ the blue paladin, from the sound of it, they had information that they could use.

He wasn't worried about them getting away- he could overpower the both of them before they got so much as a chance to scream. He'd... rather it not come to that, but he was hardly oblivious of his own appearance, so he'd do it if he had to.

Not everyone was Pidge, so determined to find answers about her family that she was willing to come back to talk to an alien that had held her at knife point. He worried about her common sense sometimes.

(Not that he was one to talk.)

What he _was_ most worried about was them recognizing him. But it had been four years since then- _someone_ had to have shattered his records by now, right? He doubted these guys were even around when he had been a cadet there.

Maybe he should make up a more Galra name? Nah, that'd be blown the minute Pidge walked through the door.

Just as he was thinking about that, his ear twitched, picking up the sound of approaching footsteps. For a moment, he considered hiding- but there was nowhere to hide, so he scrapped that plan.

At least they were only able to see the back of his head.

"Uh, Lance, I don't want to alarm you, but I _think_ there's someone by our bike." Hunk whispered- and Keith had to let out a snort. Astute observation.

"Yeah Hunk, I can see that, I have eyes." Lance hissed. "What the- do you see what's going on with his _ears_ , or is that just me? That's not just me, right?"

"No, no, it's not just you- those are... those are definitely some weird ears." Hunk whispered. "Do you- you don't think he can hear us, can he?"

"I can hear you." Keith spoke up. "I just want to talk."

He could almost _hear_ the two cadets exchange glances, and most definitely could feel their suspicious gazes on his back. There wasn't any venom to it, not like he usually felt, but they were similar enough to what he usually got that he could pick up on it.

"How do we know you're not with the Garrison?" Lance asked.

This time he did let out a snort, turning around. "Do I _look_ like I'm with the Garrison?"

Alright, so he'd be lying if he said he didn't get _some_ form of amusement at the way the cadets' jaws dropped. Maybe his sense of humor had gotten just a little bit warped over the years- maybe.

"I- uh, you look, uh-" Hunk stammered, clearly caught in between wanting to ask what the hell was going on, and being polite.

His companion, however, was not so subtle. "Holy shit Hunk, I think that's an _alien_." He not-whispered, before fixing his full gaze on him. " _Are_ you an alien?"

Folding his arms in front of his chest, Keith tilted his head. Not in the technical definition, maybe, but he sure as heck wasn't _human_. "Sure am. Heard you saying something about finding a blue lion."

The two cadets flinched, exchanging glances between them. Finally, the bigger one swallowed, hesitantly speaking. "Do you like... come in peace?"

"Promise." Keith told them. "Which is more than I can say for the other guys who might be interested in that blue lion of yours."

"Other guys?" Hunk asked, exchanging another, even more nervous glance with Lance. "What other guys?"

"Look, I'll make you two a deal," Keith began, "-you come with me, and tell me everything you know about the blue lion, and I'll tell you everything _I_ know."

The two cadets exchanged hushed whispers between them then, and Keith didn't know how to tell them that he could still hear everything they were saying. Trying not to look _too_ much like he was eavesdropping on their hushed conversation, Keith glanced in the other direction.

Before realizing that they had no way of knowing that. Heaving a sigh, he physically turned his head, muttering underneath his breath about his stupid eyes.

It had taken him months of watching them in the mirror to establish where he was looking, and he was the one _doing_ the looking. The fact that he had seen Galra with pupils chafed at him, knowing that it was possible, and yet he'd been stuck with _these_ soulless pieces of shit.

His father had once let it slip that he had his mother's eyes. Which meant _she_ had pupils, and yet, here the fuck he was, without them.

One of these days, he was going to get payback on Zarkon's witch.

But that was neither here nor now- because from the look of it, the cadets had reached some kind of decision.

"Okay." Lance said, stepping forwards. "We'll come with you."

"Just- one quick question, where exactly is it that we'll be going?" Hunk asked. "Is it space? Because we kind of have a curfew, so... _yeah_."

"Don't worry." Keith promised them. "It's not space."

* * *

It wasn't space.

It was a fucking _shack_ , out in the middle of the desert.

Honestly, this week had been one hell of a fucking week for him. Starting off with the disaster that was Meatloaf Monday and ending with a _fucking alien_.

A real live, goddamn _alien_.

(Oh god, had the alien heard them talking about Meatloaf Monday? Did the alien even know what _meatloaf_ was? Or a _Monday_?)

And in between that? Oh, how about a _giant robotic blue lion_ for starters? How about that, huh? One that had gotten _taken away_ from him, by the way, one that Iverson wouldn't even keep him in the loop about.

_He'd_ been the one to find it! You'd think that would like, entitle him to _updates_ or something, not being threatened with expulsion from the Garrison if he so much as breathed a word about it!

And now, here he was, out in the middle of the desert, in a shack, with an _alien_. Oh, and Hunk. Hunk was there too. God bless Hunk.

Could life get _any_ weirder than this? Maybe, which was why he was _kind of_ afraid to ask.

The alien seemed to go ahead and make itself- himself? it _sounded_ like a dude, at least, but who the fuck knew how it worked with aliens- right at home, collapsing on a rickety couch that he didn't think could hold the weight of more than one person.

Which made exactly one of them at ease. For all that the alien was shorter than him- only by a few inches, barely enough to gloat, but still- he was pretty sure that overpowering him was out of the question.

"So uh," Hunk broke the silence, shifting nervously on his feet, "-I'm Hunk and this is Lance."

Great, Hunk. Just tell the alien our names, why don't you.

"Keith." The alien supplied.

Wait. _What_.

"Keith." Lance repeated. "Your name is _Keith_."

Ugh, he felt like he knew that name from somewhere too. He didn't know why, but there was something about the sound of it that ticked him off. Did he even know anyone named Keith?

Tilting his head back, the alien eyed him- or at least, he thought he did, who even fucking knew with those creepy ass eyes of his. "Got a problem with it?"

"No, no problem!" Hunk quickly said, elbowing him in the side. "Right, Lance?"

Shooting his friend a look, Lance rubbed his side. "Yeah, no problem. Now how do _you_ know about the blue lion?"

Okay, so he didn't know it was even called the blue lion until the alien- _Keith_ , what kind of alien was named _Keith_ \- mentioned it. But he was _not_ going to let him know that.

"Because I pilot the red lion." Keith told him, as if that explained everything.

"Wait, are you saying that there's like... _more_ of those things?" Hunk asked.

"Four more, to be exact." Keith told them, holding up four fingers. Or maybe he was just trying to remind them that he had claws, as if he could somehow _forget_ the claws.

Okay, so _maybe_ following an alien back to his hideout was not his best idea ever, but hey- there was something weird going on here, and he wanted _answers_ , damnit.

Because listen- he couldn't explain it, but he was damn sure that thing had been calling to him. And if that didn't sound like some kind of incredible, totally awesome, super cool destiny, then what the hell did?

"So uh, I can't help but notice you said something about someone else being interested in the lion." Hunk spoke up, cutting to chase. "And from the way you put it, they don't really sound friendly."

"They're not." Keith told them, his eyes narrowing. "Trust me, they're the _last_ people you want to see get their hands on the lion. It puts the whole planet in danger just by being here."

Yeah, that- that sounded really bad. Still-

"How do we know we can trust _you_?" Lance asked. "Maybe you're lying."

"You're just going to have to." Keith said, as if that somehow settled that. "You said you felt the lion?"

Frowning, Lance narrowed his eyes, wondering just how much he should tell this guy. Once he got a better look at him, he seemed almost eerily _human_ \- if it weren't for the eyes and the ears, not to mention the _claws_ , he might have even mistaken him for one. He was even dressed like a human- a _fashion impaired_ one, maybe, but a human nonetheless.

"Why should I tell you?" Lance asked.

"Pretty sure those were our terms of agreement." Keith pointed out. "I tell you what I know, and you tell me what you know."

"He's got a point." Hunk supplied, oh so helpfully.

Grumbling, Lance glowered at the alien, who just looked downright indifferent to it. At least, he thought so- ugh, the more he looked at those eyes, the more they gave him the creeps. " _Fine_."

" _Yes_ , I felt the lion." Lance told him, before hesitating. "I mean... I guess? It was... I had a dream, that it was calling me."

"Let me guess- you stole a bike from the Garrison and forgot to disable the tracker?" Keith asked. "You _did_ disable the one on this one, I hope."

"Uh, yeah, we're not _stupid_." Lance said, rolling his eyes, wondering if an alien without pupils would even understand what the gesture meant.

"I mean... we _did_ kind of forget about it the first time." Hunk pointed out. "That _is_ kind of how we got into this mess in the first place."

"I _know_ , Hunk." Lance told him, shooting him a look. But did the _alien_ seriously have to know that? And how the hell did _he_ even know the Garrison put trackers in all their bikes anyways?

"Great, because I'd rather the Garrison not find out I'm here." Keith told them.

It wasn't hard to guess why. Given how the Garrison had reacted to just finding an alien spacecraft- or what was presumably an alien spacecraft, he couldn't imagine how excited they would be to find an _actual alien_.

"Well they're not about to hear it from me." Lance said. "The blue lion called out to _me_ , and they just took it like it was theirs."

"Yeah, do you know what's up with that?" Hunk asked. "I mean, if you pilot another one of these things, you would like... know, right?"

"Kind of?" Keith frowned, his brows knitting together. "The princess would know more than me."

Now _that_ caught his interest. "Princess? What princess?"

The edge of his lips quirking in a grin, Keith rose to his feet. "The princess whose father built the lions, apparently."

A princess. An _alien_ princess, from the sound of it. Holy shit, maybe this wasn't such a bad week after all.

Was she cute? Oh man, he hoped she was cute.

"Princess?" Hunk asked, gaze flickering around the shack, as if there was anywhere to even hide in this place. "Is she... is she here?"

"No." Keith said frankly. "Right now it's just me. I'm the advance scout."

"So, that means this princess... she's coming, right? Like, here?" Lance ventured.

"Tonight." Keith replied. "She'll probably want to meet you."

An alien princess? Wanting to meet _him_? Okay, week officially forgiven.

"Why would she want to meet Lance?" Hunk asked, ever the cautious skeptic. He almost wanted to complain- when would he ever get the chance to meet an alien princess again?- but he knew that he was just looking out for him, so he kept his mouth shut.

Keith frowned, and for the span of a moment, he was damn near certain he was staring at him. "Because the blue lion called to him."

"You're not too good at this whole _explaining_ thing, are you?" Lance asked.

"It's not my forte." Keith admitted, with a frankness that caught him off guard. "The lions are... they're important. More than you know. Like I said, the princess could explain it a lot better than I can."

"So what, you're backing out on your end of the deal?" Lance asked.

The alien glowered, and he couldn't help but flinch underneath it. "I didn't say that. I just said I wasn't good at this."

"But this princess is, right?" Hunk interjected, as if sensing a possible fight and wanting to do anything to stop it.

Keith gave him a curt nod of his head. Wordlessly, he crossed the shack, stooping over a table and yanking open a drawer, pulling out a pad of paper and a pencil. Jotting down a series of numbers, he tore it off the pad, passing it over towards Hunk. "These are the coordinates for this place. Come back tomorrow, and she'll tell you everything."

"Why can't she just tell us tonight?" Lance asked, frowning.

Keith merely blinked, expression blank. "...you have a curfew?"

Oh. Right. He'd forgotten about that. Good point.

"So will you come back?" Keith asked, tilting his head. "Because we might need your help."

Exchanging a glance with Hunk, Lance frowned, thinking it over for a moment. On one hand, _alien princess_ \- on the other hand, part of him _still_ didn't trust this guy.

His curiosity won out, in the end. "You can count on us."

He didn't expect Keith to _smile_ \- but he did just that, and for a split second, it was almost enough to humanize him. It was gone just as quick, replaced by a stern expression. "Great. I can trust you to keep this quiet though, right? We don't want to attract any unwanted attention from the Garrison."

"My lips are sealed." Lance told him. "Right, Hunk?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." Hunk promised. "One hundred percent sealed."

The alien's frown lingered for a moment longer, before he shrugged his shoulder, seeming satisfied with that. "Good."

"So uh," Hunk piped up, "-what is it that you're planning to _do_ , exactly? You know, just so we have some idea."

There was a glint in the alien's eyes, the edge of his lips pulling back in a smirk. "We're taking the blue lion back."


	14. no place like home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Promising young cadet going missing in the desert? Honestly, he kind of thought they had made the guy up, until he ran into his records on the simulator. That damned _Kogane, K._ had become the bane of his very existence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, it's chapter fourteen time! Just four teens, hanging out in a shack in the desert, what could possibly go wrong? Soon it will be six teens! What a mix! Definitely not one that will cause any problems for anyone and I am sure everyone will have a very good time all the way through.

"Wait, hold on- you did _what_ now?"

Jerking his head up at the sound of Katie's voice, Matt frowned. Setting down his work, he made his way into the living room, to find his sister in the middle of a chat with Keith. Weird- he'd already sent them the coordinates, so he'd kind of figured he wouldn't touch base with them again until they all met up that night.

"Talked to some cadets." Came Keith's reply, and now he understood why his sister sounded so frustrated, because that statement was _way_ too nonchalant.

"You talked," Pidge began, stressing every word, as if she hoped Keith would get the point, "-to some cadets."

"Yeah?" He didn't, not at all. "They had information about the blue lion."

Now that stopped his sister short- during which, she became aware of his presence, looming over her. Giving him a quick smile, she turned back to the com link. "Why would cadets know about the blue lion? I was under the impression the Garrison was keeping it a secret."

"They are." Keith told him. "It's just that these cadets were the ones to find it in the first place. Tell Allura I might have found the blue paladin."

"You found _what_ now?" Matt exclaimed, half not realizing he'd spoken until he had.

Aw man. There went his hopes of being a leg.

"The blue paladin." Keith repeated, and he could almost _hear_ his frown. "Is that Matt?"

"It's Matt." Pidge told him. "Say hi, Matt."

"Hi, Matt." Matt dutifully repeated, ignoring the look his sister sent towards him. Worth it.

"...hi, Keith?" Keith repeated, but with his own name, in that clueless fashion that told him he'd totally missed the joke. When he'd first met, all Matt had been able to see was the alien who picked up on Earth references, but by now, he was starting to understand that Keith could be pretty clueless in his own right.

"Please ignore my brother, Keith." Pidge told him, to which Matt let out an _offended_ gasp. "What's this about finding the blue paladin?"

"I think it's one of the cadets." Keith told her. "He said it called to him in a dream."

"That _does_ sound pretty paladin-like." Pidge admitted. "But Allura would know best."

"Where _is_ Allura?" Keith asked.

"Taking the chance to explore the lake." Matt told him. "She said that they had lakes back on Altea, so she wanted to see how ours is different."

"No lake monsters, for one thing." Pidge added, half to herself. Yeah, those apparently had been a thing on Altea, who knew?

"What does she think we're here for, _sightseeing_?" Keith grumbled, half to himself.

"I mean, it has been a pretty wild couple of days." Pidge told him. "It's not a bad idea to relax while we have the chance."

Heaving a sigh, the sound of it coming across distorted over the com link, Keith seemed to accept that. "Yeah, fair enough. I told the cadets to come back tomorrow."

"You're sure they're not going to say anything?" Pidge asked. "We can't afford to have the Garrison know that we're coming."

"I'm not _stupid_ , Pidge." Keith said. "Anyways, try to see if you can't get the cadet files on _Lance McClain_ and _Hunk Garrett_. Might be a good idea to see who it is that we're dealing with here."

"Can do." Pidge told him, already reaching for her data pad. "Just hold on a second, it should only take me a moment."

"I can wait." Keith told her. "Not a whole lot to do out in the desert."

Watching with one eye as his sister broke through the Galaxy Garrison's security, Matt couldn't help but smile. She had come a long way since he'd seen her last, and even though their separation hadn't been by choice, he couldn't help but be proud of how much she had grown in his absence.

If only he could show their father.

(They'd find him. They would.)

Not just him, but Shiro too. He wouldn't rest until every member of the Kerberos expedition was safely home- and then he'd _really_ let the Galaxy Garrison have it.

"Not a fan?" Matt asked, making small talk while his sister worked.

"The opposite." Pidge spoke up, already having gotten through the Garrison's firewall, and into their main network. "Keith loves the desert."

"I grew up in the desert." Keith supplied- and he didn't miss the way that tidbit of information caused Pidge to pause. "So yeah, I'm pretty fond of it."

"Well that makes one of us." Matt said. "No offense Keith, but when I was with the Garrison, I could never get used to it. The sunsets were nice, though."

"None taken." Keith told him. "It's not for everyone. But I like it. It's peaceful."

"You said that about the forest too." Pidge remarked. "Are you sure _you're_ not the one meant to pilot the green lion? You're a total nature boy."

"If the green lion chose you, it probably has a reason." Keith remarked. "But... yeah, that is kind of an odd fit. You didn't even like the woods by your house."

"Too many bugs." Pidge told him. "And poison oak. Don't see the appeal."

"I like forests." Matt supplied. "Dad used to take me camping before... you know. Pidge hated it though. She only ever went with us once, and called mom halfway through to come pick her up."

"Wow Matt, expose more of my dark history, why don't you." Pidge remarked, her tone dry- and it was faint, but he was pretty sure he could make out Keith letting out a chuckle on the other end of the com link.

"Hey, Keith's like family," Matt said, a faint grin on his face, "-that means I gotta share the embarrassing stories with him."

It wasn't an untrue statement- Keith being family, that is. Just from the way Pidge interacted with him, he could tell that much. And his mom? Pidge was right, she pretty much had adopted Keith as a second son.

And you know? He liked the guy too. Sure yeah, there was plenty he wasn't being up front about, like _a ton_ \- but near as he could tell? Keith had been through the wringer, possibly even _before_ being held captive by the Galra. So really... it kind of wasn't like he blamed him for that.

He knew what it was like, being a prisoner of the Galra. Maybe that was a bit presumptuous of him- he'd only been there for a short while, and he'd never been taken to _Central Command_. But he'd been there long enough to understand what it was like- and being _half-Galra_?

Yeah, that really couldn't have done Keith any favors.

Plus, being held captive by his own mother's people? Even if he'd never known her, that had to be like, _some_ kind of betrayal. If the Galaxy Garrison abandoning him to his fate and declaring him dead was bad, then that must have been like... ten times worse.

Or twenty. He was good at _math_ math, not _theoretical feelings_ math.

"And I'm in." Pidge said, breaking him out of his train of thoughts- though he couldn't help but notice that Keith had never responded to him. The little light on the com link was still green, so he must have still been on the other end of the line, at least.

Then his voice came through, proving that.

"What's it look like?" Keith asked.

"Well, it looks like what you've got here are two parts of a three man team." Pidge told him. "Hunk Garrett is an engineer, pretty good scores too, outside of the simulator where he's been flagged for vomiting in the equipment-"

Okay, gross, not that Matt could blame him. Those things could get _jerky_.

"-and Lance McClain is a fighter class pilot, but his scores are... which one did you say was the blue paladin again?" Pidge ventured, sounding hesitant- and one look at the guy's track record, he could sort of understand why.

"Lance." Keith supplied. "Why? How bad is it?"

"Bad." Pidge admitted. "He tests good on paper, but all of his sim scores are terrible."

The sound of Keith clicking his tongue came out strange, and Matt had to wonder if it was because of the com link, or because of his teeth. "Maybe the blue lion made a mistake."

"I don't know, Keith, from the way Allura puts it, I don't think the lions make mistakes." Matt told him.

"I mean, _Zarkon_ was a paladin." Keith pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was like, _before_ he went nuts." Pidge said. "If he _is_ the blue paladin, then maybe he could help us get the blue lion out of there. I might be able to manage it with the green lion, but even knowing where it is, it'll be tough going."

"The princess would probably be able to tell." Matt said, glancing down towards his sister. "I mean, she could with you, right?"

"It's possible." Pidge said. "We'll talk to her about this when she returns. Do you really think the cadets will come back?"

"Lance seemed pretty excited about the prospect of meeting an alien princess." Keith said. "And they were willing to talk to _me_."

There was a note of something self-loathing to that, that caused Matt to frown. It wasn't that strange- he'd only met maybe one or two other half-Galra working for the rebellion, but both of them seemed to carry similar feelings towards the Galra half of their heritage. But Keith's...

Keith's seemed more intense.

"Well, that's something." Pidge admitted. "Guess we'll find out tomorrow."

"Guess so." Keith said. "Let me know if anything comes up on your end."

"Will do." Pidge promised. "You take care Keith. Don't cause trouble."

The faint snort on the other end nearly escaped notice. "I never cause trouble."

"I have about like, ten different stories off the top of my head that say otherwise, but sure, you _never_ cause trouble." Pidge retorted.

"What, and you _don't_?" Keith challenged. "Stay safe, Pidge. You too, Matt."

With that, the light on the com link switched to red, indicating that Keith had cut the line. Watching as his sister let out a breath, tucking the com link back into her pocket, he gave her a small grin. "Any chance you're gonna share some of those stories with me?"

Flashing him a grin, his sister set down her data pad. "A space pirate never reveals her secrets. Besides, you're my _brother_ , I'm not telling you any embarrassing stories you don't already know."

Placing his hands over his heart, Matt let out a wounded cry. "As your brother, it pains me to hear you say that."

"Too bad." She told him, sticking out her tongue. "No amount of faux heartbreak will get me to give you ammo."

"Oh, I assure you, my heartbreak is _very_ real." Matt said. "To think that you grew up so much without me... or well, not so much the height part."

Yeah, he probably deserved that elbow to his gut.

"Perfect size for doing _that_."

"Yep," he admitted, giving her a thumbs up, "-yep, that's very true. Good blow."

* * *

"So did that just like, actually happen?"

It wasn't until they reached the ( _relative_ ) safety of their dorm room that Hunk even dared breech the question. The first thing Lance had done was sprawl back on his bed, because even if the start of this week had involved finding a giant blue lion, it still wasn't enough to prepare him for making _actual alien contact_.

"I don't know." He admitted after a moment. "Do you still have that paper?"

Turning his head so that he could watch Hunk fish into the pocket of his uniform, he watched him produce a slip of yellowed paper. "...so, real then?"

"Yeah, yeah, I guess so." Hunk said. "What do you think I should do with this?"

"I don't know, hide it somewhere?" Lance told him. "You heard what he said, we can't let the Garrison know about this."

Whatever _this_ was.

"I mean yeah, I agree with that much, we totally shouldn't let the Garrison know about this, but-" Hunk frowned, twiddling his thumbs, "-it's just... do you really think this is such a good idea?"

"What, going back?" Lance asked, propping himself up with his elbows. "You heard him. That princess of his is the one with all the answers."

"Yeah but like... what if it's a trap?" Hunk asked.

"Hunk, I'm pretty sure that guy could have kicked our asses right there and then if he'd wanted to." Lance pointed out. "Why would he need to trap us?"

"Hm, good point." Hunk admitted. "So you think this _Keith_ guy is telling the truth?"

"I don't know." Lance admitted, feeling like a broken record. But what was he supposed to say? He really didn't know!

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he twined his fingers together. "What do you think? You've got pretty good instincts about this stuff. He seem like he was on the level to you?"

At that, Hunk could only frown. "I don't know. Maybe?"

"Fair enough." Lance said. "I mean, he is an alien. Although man, what kind of alien is named _Keith_?"

"It could be like, one of those names." Hunk suggested. "You know, like you can find a Maria like, everywhere."

"Yeah, but that's like, on _Earth_." Lance pointed out.

"Hm, fair." Hunk told him. "Maybe it's like, an assumed name? Maybe his real name is something that's too hard for humans to pronounce, so he picked a human name?"

"Who would name themselves _Keith_?" Lance asked.

Then again, the guy was sporting a _mullet_. Though hey, maybe he shouldn't be so quick to judge- maybe mullets were like, fashionable from whatever planet he was from.

Not to mention ugly cropped jackets. Where the hell did he pull that thing from anyways? And the fingerless gloves? Who even taught this guy to dress himself?

(Hunk _also_ wore cropped jackets and fingerless gloves, but that was different, because Hunk was his friend and he supported him in all things, even bad fashion choices.)

"I don't think it's such a bad name." Hunk told him. "I mean, a little bit of a poor choice given the whole, you know, but there's worse names. Like _Eugene_."

"God yeah, Eugene is like _the worst_." Lance admitted. "What do you mean by poor choice, though?"

"Uh," Hunk blinked, "-I mean, you know."

"No, I don't know?" Lance questioned. "That's why I asked?"

Hunk, for his part, looked at him with disbelief. "You've been chasing his record all this time and you mean to tell me that you don't know?"

"Don't know what?" Lance asked, brows furrowing. "And wait- what record? The only record I've been chasing is-"

Oh. _Oh_. The realization hits him like a pile of bricks.

Snapping his fingers, he sprung to his feet. "You're talking about that missing prodigy."

" _Technically_ he was declared dead, so not missing, not so much." Hunk pointed out. "But yeah, I'm talking about Keith. I mean, not _alien_ Keith, obviously, but _prodigy_ Keith. Garrison Keith? Desert Keith."

Lance winced at the last one. "Bad taste, dude."

To his credit, Hunk returned the wince. "...oof, yeah, you're right. Strike Desert Keith from the record."

"Consider it struck." Lance said, before frowning. "Stricken."

Because yeah, he knew who Hunk was talking about now. How could he _not_? The guy was like, the Galaxy Garrison's biggest cautionary tale.

Promising young cadet going missing in the desert? Honestly, he kind of thought they had made the guy up, until he ran into his records on the simulator. That damned _Kogane, K._ had become the bane of his very existence.

Beating a dead man's record seriously should not be that hard. Yet his scores still remained at the top, five years later. No one could even manage to come close- and believe him, he'd tried.

That said, there was only so much of a grudge that he could hold against a dead kid. It was annoying he still couldn't beat the guy when he wasn't even around to defend his record, but Christ, he wasn't _that_ spiteful.

"Yeah, you're right though." Lance admitted, sinking back onto his bed. "Totally poor choice."

Probably a coincidence, though. Then again, the alien _had_ seemed pretty knowledgeable about the Garrison, so maybe he'd seen it while he was doing his research, and liked it? Who knew- it wasn't even like it was the most important question.

"So, just to clarify, we are going back, right?" Hunk asked.

"I mean... you don't have to if you don't feel right about this." Lance told him. "I'm not gonna force you to do anything you don't want to, Hunk."

"Oh no, there is no way I'm letting you go off to meet some shady alien all by yourself." Hunk told him. "No sir. That's not how we do things here."

Unable to help himself, Lance grinned. "Aw, thanks, Hunk! I knew I could count on you."

"Of course, that's what friends are for." Hunk told him. "But you're not like, seriously thinking of getting involved with this, are you? Because I'm pretty sure he said his plan was to _steal from the Garrison_."

"I mean... if what he says is true, then isn't this _blue lion_ better off not being on our planet like, at all?" Lance ventured. "I don't know about you, but _I'm_ pretty attached to this planet."

"Yeah, it's a good one." Hunk agreed. "Kind of where I live and stuff."

"So I don't know about _helping_ him, but we can at least give him like, information, and stuff." Lance told him. "Besides, I'm kind of curious about what it is this princess wants from me."

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Hunk asked. "He wasn't real clear on that part."

Letting out a snort, Lance rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he wasn't real clear on like, anything."

"Yeah, true." Hunk agreed. "So what's the plan?"

"Sneak out after class, get some answers?" Lance said with a shrug. "I don't know, I don't have much of a working plan so much at this point. Any suggestions?"

"Uh, try not to die?" Hunk ventured.

"Oh, that's a good one. Let's go with that."

* * *

"Is it true?"

She barely allowed herself time to leave the green lion before she was on Keith, pressing him with questions. "Have you truly located the blue lion's paladin?"

Which, perhaps she should have. Keith seemed awfully fond of his personal space, so her intruding upon it so quickly seemed to put him ill at ease. Taking a step back, Allura allowed him room to breathe, for which he appeared grateful.

"Might." Keith told her. " _Might_ have found the blue paladin."

Heaving a sigh, Keith cast a glance towards all three of them, running a hand through his head fur- or at least, what she suspected was such. She had to admit, she did not know much about human physiology, especially not when it had been crossbreed with a Galra. "Look, why don't we discuss this inside?"

"Yeah, I vote for that." Matt said, holding up a hand. "I don't know about you two, but I for one, am _freezing_."

"Ditto." Pidge quickly agreed.

Oh yes, it _was_ a bit chilly out here she supposed. How strange- she had heard that deserts were supposed to be warm, but perhaps it was different on Earth. Either way, they were right- it would be best if they sought shelter. The cold was starting to seep into her bones.

Keith simply looked unaffected.

"I dug out some blankets." Keith told them. "Water still works, after I cleared the lines from rust, but there's no electricity, so you'll either have to deal with that, or sleep in the green lion tonight."

"Ugh." Pidge crinkled her nose. "You see, this is why I hate the outdoors."

Giving the green paladin a soft smile, Allura followed them into what could only be described as a meager shack. Not to sound as if she were some kind of elitist, but if she had to be honest, she was used to accommodations that were well... _cleaner_ than this.

The lake house, on the other hand, was positively lovely. The green paladin's mother was a skilled homemaker, she never would have guessed that the lakeside abode was not their day to day home.

Keith closed the door behind them, only providing them with some small relief from the chill of the night air. She watched as Pidge all but dove for one of the blankets, wrapping herself in it until only her head could be seen, sinking into the rickety couch. Matt dove for a blanket next, all but mimicking his sister.

"Geez Keith, did you even clean?" Pidge asked. "I feel like I got sand in my shoes just walking through the front door."

"Was kind of busy. There's an old hoverbike out back I was trying to fix up. Might come in handy." Keith told her. "We're not going to be here long anyways."

There was an almost rueful note to his tone, but it was gone so quickly that she couldn't help but wonder if she had imagined it.

"Fair enough." Pidge admitted. "Come join the blanket party, princess."

Curling up in a blanket during an important discussion did not exactly seem as if it would be proper decorum, but nobody else seemed to mind, and it _was_ awfully chilly. Accepting the blanket that Pidge offered her, she threw it around her shoulders, not quite bundling up in it the same way either of the Holt siblings had.

Keith was fine, it seemed, and remained standing. It was almost as if he were trying to physically distance himself from them.

Strange- normally he was so close to Pidge. Had they had some kind of spat?

"Now then, about this blue paladin you believe you have found," Allura began, "-Pidge told me that he had a vision of the blue lion."

"Said it came to him in a dream, or something." Keith told her. "They're coming back tomorrow, so you can ask him yourself then."

"You're _sure_ they're coming back?" Pidge asked. "And that they haven't totally exposed this location to the Galaxy Garrison, right?"

"I'm pretty sure the Galaxy Garrison would be busting the door down right now if they had." Keith told her. "So yeah, I'm sure. About the not talking part, I don't know about the _coming back_ part. He seemed pretty interested, at least."

"Let us hope that your instincts prove correct." Allura said.

"At least we know for sure that the Garrison has the blue lion now." Matt said.

"Not to mention that they might know whose computer I should be looking at to gain access to those files." Pidge added.

"Let us hope so." Allura said. "I do not know for how long I can mask your absence."

He tried to mask it, but she didn't miss the faint way Keith's eyes narrowed. He'd worn the same expression when she had displayed her ability to change form, and she suspected that perhaps it was rooted out of jealousy. Not that she could not understand- Keith must have had very little socialization with his father's people, had he been raised on Earth.

So to see her blend in so easily... yes, she could understand how that might bother him.

It must be awful, some part of her thought- to have two people, and fit in with neither of them. While granted, she had no idea as to why anyone would want to fit in with the _Galra_ , she supposed it wasn't that simple when it came down to it.

No wonder he held his human friends so close, then.

"Right!" Springing to his feet, Matt let his blanket drop. "Mom packed some dinner. Since it sounds like we're done with the serious topics for now, why don't I go get it?"

"Need a hand?" Keith asked.

"I think I can handle two baskets." Matt told- and she watched in amusement as he bent his arms, almost seeming to preen. "These puppies aren't just for show."

Oh, a human colloquialism, she realized. She was learning so much about Earth culture!

"Says the guy who started dragging them the moment nobody could see him anymore." Pidge chimed in.

"Pidge!" Matt gasped. "Way to expose me like that! And wait, how do _you_ know that?"

"The green lion told me." Pidge told him.

"Wow," Matt squinted, "-can't believe the green lion's a _snitch_."

...she did not know what a _snitch_ was, but she was not so sure that it was a befitting title for a lion of Voltron.

* * *

"So," taking a seat next to Keith, Pidge pulled the blanket up tighter around herself, "-you knew a place."

Under the night sky, Keith's eyes glowed almost as bright as the stars did. Sleeping in the green lion was a restless activity, though both Allura and Matt seemed like they were out like a light. Keith alone had opted to spend the night in the shack, which didn't surprise her in the least.

She had found him perched on the roof of the old shack, staring up at the stars. That wasn't a surprise either- back when he had lived with her, he would often sneak away to do the same thing. At the time, she had thought that perhaps he was yearning to go back home, but now she realized that he had been home, the entire time.

Maybe Keith just liked the stars.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Keith's voice was quiet, thoughtful.

"Shouldn't you?" Pidge countered.

Keith turned his gaze away, falling back into silence, before indicating with his head that she was allowed to come closer. Scooting so that she was shoulder to shoulder with him, she drew her blanket tight around her, wondering if it was the Galra blood that made Keith so impervious to the chill of the night air.

At least he was warm.

"How'd you even get up here?" Keith asked.

"Trust me, it wasn't easy." Pidge admitted. "But I'm sure you heard me banging around."

Keith cracked a smile at that. "Yeah. Kind of hard to miss."

Grinning, she turned her attention skyward. "I missed this."

"Yeah." Shifting his gaze towards the sky, the edges of Keith's eyes crinkled. "Me too."

There was a depth to Keith's comment that hadn't been in hers. Drawing in a long breath, she simply sat in silence for a long while, marveling at constellations that she hadn't been able to see since she left Earth. She didn't realize how much she would miss them until she was already gone- like so much about Earth, really.

How did Keith feel, being away from it for four years?

How did Matt? Her father? Shiro?

They all shared one common thread- they hadn't chose this.

"Do you think it's really possible?" Pidge asked. "Defeating Zarkon?"

"Don't know." Keith admitted. "He's a monster."

Frowning, she peered over at him. "Have you ever seen him before?"

Keith's gaze didn't shift from the stars, but she didn't miss the way his brows furrowed. "Just once."

Letting out a low, contemplative hum, Pidge pulled her blanket closer to herself. "What did they want from you?"

For a long moment, she thought maybe she'd overstepped her bounds- before Keith finally replied. "At first they just wanted to know how it was that a Galra came to be on Earth. I told them I didn't know."

It felt as if he had chosen his words carefully- she couldn't tell if he was talking about his mother, or himself. Frowning, she glanced over at him, his gaze fixed ever skyward.

"You should get some sleep." He said finally. "Things are going to get busy, starting tomorrow."

Pidge slowly got to her feet, hiking the blanket up so that it didn't trip her up. "Only if you get some."

Keith didn't look at her, just gave her a rueful smile. "I'll try."

Lingering for a moment longer, she eventually let out a sigh, making her way back the way she had come. She paused for a bit outside of the green lion, gaze fixed on Keith, still perched on the little, rundown shack's roof.

It looked like it had been lived in, once.

She wondered if it had been his home.

Catching her eye, Keith jerked with his head towards the green lion. Rolling her eyes, she made a show of going back up the ramp. Geez, who did he think he was, her mom?

Creeping back into the cockpit, she found her patch of floor, where even more old blankets had been dredged up, and an old, beaten up pillow to match. Resting her head on it, she closed her eyes, willing sleep to come to her.

Keith was right about one thing- they were going to be awfully busy starting tomorrow.


	15. blue paladin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Dead?" Matt finished, giving them both a toothy grin. "I'm afraid the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's chapter fifteen! Lance and Hunk finally meet the crew, and Keith has still yet to discover that sometimes the real family is the friends we make along the way. Someday, my child, someday. Not today because you're astonishingly dense about this sort of thing, but someday!

If she had to be perfectly honest, she found herself a bit bored.

Pidge and Matt had gone to do some reconnaissance, taking the hoverbike that Keith had borrowed to get here. They would return in the afternoon, after scouting out the lay of the Galaxy Garrison, which to her understanding, took up a rather vast campus to the northeast of them.

The desert, she quickly determined, was not nearly so pleasant as the lake had been. She had always been a bit curious about them- there were no deserts on Altea, and though she had traveled with her father to all manner of planets, she had never once traversed a desert.

She was beginning to realize that she had missed absolutely nothing.

How Keith had grown up in a place like this was beyond her understanding. Still, she supposed it did explain one thing- his uncanny ability to travel light. She was uncertain if he even owned more than the clothes on his back, and that luxite blade he seemed to carry with him everywhere.

Which she _still_ found herself wondering about. She had been meaning to ask him about it, but she'd never so much as had the chance. He didn't exactly make himself that available to her, though it wasn't entirely as if he were avoiding her either.

With very little else to do, she found herself watching him. At first she thought he would mind, and shoo her away, but it seemed that for the time being, he tolerated her presence. If she had to be honest, it wasn't very interesting, but it was at least better than staring off into space, alone with only her thoughts.

She never did handle boredom well.

Once these cadets came, things would likely become rather lively- but Matt had informed her that they likely had classes, and therefore, might not show up until the late afternoon, at best.

"Princess," Keith's voice startled her more than a little, not having expected him to speak, "-can you hand me that wrench?"

Glancing around her, she took notice of the tool by her feet. With a slight frown, she picked it up, placing it in Keith's waiting hand. Not once did he turn to look at her, merely glancing down at his hand to confirm that she'd handed him the right thing.

Frowning, Allura's brows knit together. She had seen him banter with Pidge, so she knew that he was capable of it, but it seemed that when it was just the two of them together, talking was something he found himself hesitant to do. It was not that she didn't understand- there was an awkward air between the two of them.

He was, after all, Galra.

"You know," Allura began, "-on Altea, when someone helps another, we tend to thank them."

Still not even looking at her, Keith continued his work. "Thanks."

Her frown deepening, Allura shifted on her feet. With his hair pulled back, bangs swept out of his face, she'd finally gotten her first good look at his face. It was a shame, she thought, that he was not more human, for he was actually quite attractive in his own right.

Even if his face _was_ stained with oil at the moment.

She was starting to sense that this hoverbike was important to him. He certainly seemed focused on fixing it by himself, even refusing an offer of help from Matt and Pidge. It was clear to her that he was not nearly as skilled at mechanics as either the green paladin or her brother were, not from the frequent way he consulted what she could only assume to be a manual of some kind.

He was not, however, letting that stop him. There was a stubborn perseverance there, befitting of a red paladin.

His jacket tied about his waist, Keith's brows were furrowed in concentration. Pausing to wipe some sweat from his brow, only managing to wipe more oil on his face as he did so, Keith stood up, taking a step back.

"Is it done?"

Glancing over towards her, Keith frowned. "Should be close."

Watching him with curious eyes, her gaze flickered down towards the hoverbike. They had nothing like it on Altea, so she could not help but be curious about them. Even she could tell that this one was a different model than the one Pidge and her brother had taken out, with a coat of red and white paint that so strongly reminded her of Keith.

The same colors were reflected in his jacket, as well as his choice of footwear. It was as if he had been wearing the color scheme of his paladin armor the whole time.

The thought amused her, at the same time as it unsettled her. The armor of the red paladin had last been worn by her father- so to have it be worn by another, especially by one who carried the blood of her people's sworn enemy, was not a thought that rested easy with her.

Nor was passing on her father's bayard to him. For a split second, she almost considered claiming it lost, much like the black bayard was. Surely his luxite blade would suffice.

"Want to give it a test ride?"

Blinking, having not expected that offer at all, Allura looked up at him. She wondered for how long he had been watching her, and felt unsettled at the thought.

"Me?" Allura asked.

Keith blinked, tilting his head. "You've been watching me tinker with it this whole time. I thought you were interested."

"Just a bit bored, actually." Allura admitted, seeing no reason to hide it. "Not much for me to do but to rehearse my speech to the blue paladin."

Letting out a snort, Keith folded his arms in front of him. "Somehow I don't think you'll need that."

As much as he had laughed it off, Allura very much doubted that. He and Pidge alike each had their own motivations for wanting to fight against Zarkon- but how could she ask it of someone who had nothing to do with the war? She would be asking him to leave behind his home, his friends, his _family_ , all for something as vague as a war he had never even heard of.

A speech, she thought, was very necessary.

Keith must have taken her silence as disinterest, for he returned to his task of fixing the hoverbike. Shutting the engine panel, he swung one leg over it, resting his hands on the controls of the bike. Retrieving a worn key from one of his belt pouches, he inserted it into the ignition, giving it a turn.

For a moment, it simply sputtered, his face falling.

Then it roared to life, hovering several inches off the ground, and she found herself wondering if the person before her was truly the same half-Galra that she was coming to begrudgingly accept as the red paladin.

It occurred to her, in that instant, that she had never seen him _smile_ like that before. Giddy, almost like a child.

He seemed to catch her looking, for he ducked his head away, an act which would have been much more effective, were his bangs still falling in his face. Quickly powering down the hoverbike, he shoved the key back into his pouch, climbing off of it.

"Hungry." He began, barely sparing a look at her. "You're hungry, right?"

Frowning, it struck her in that instant that Keith was _embarrassed_. That too, was a rather novel concept.

"I am feeling a bit peckish." Allura admitted. It was true, at least in part.

Giving her a curt nod of his head, Keith wordlessly made his way into the shack, apparently using that as an excuse to dismiss himself. Watching him go, she was half tempted to follow him inside- before she decided that it would be perhaps better to spare him.

Still, she didn't understand why being _happy_ was something to feel embarrassed about. If anything, the flash of unbridled emotion had _endeared_ him a bit to her.

Keith, she thought, was something of an enigma.

There was his abnormal quintessence, that much was true- and that was still a mystery she was very keen on solving. But it was more than just that- she had begun to notice it, ever since they had arrived on Earth, that he seemed to bear complex feelings for his own home planet.

Perhaps she should give him more credit- surely before they had taken him prisoner, the Galra Empire must have given Keith a chance to join them. While his halfbreed status would have likely prevented him from ever being fully accepted to their ranks, at least he would be able to obtain some kind of status among them. And yet here he was, throwing in his lot against them.

A faint smile on her lips, Allura's gaze lingered on the red and white hoverbike.

Perhaps the red lion had not made such a poor choice after all.

* * *

"So this princess- what do you think? Nine? Ten?"

"I don't know Lance," Hunk frowned- or at least he was pretty sure he'd frowned, he had that kind of tone, but he was sitting behind him, so he couldn't _really_ tell, "-she's an alien, right? She could just be some kind of weird blob with a tiara."

The image made him snort, probably more than Hunk had intended. "I mean, yeah, but Keith was pretty human looking right? Who's to say this princess isn't?"

"Huh. Yeah, I guess you've got a point there." Hunk admitted. "But she's like, an alien princess. Who knows how different her culture is? What if you say something and you accidentally end up offending her?"

"It'll be _fine_." Lance reassured him. "I'll just pile on some of that old Lance charm."

"Yeah, that's kind of what I'm worried about." Hunk admitted.

"Wow Hunk, thanks for the vote of confidence." Rolling his eyes, Lance sped the hoverbike along the desert, following the GPS. Hunk had fixed it so it wouldn't send their coordinates back to the Galaxy Garrison, but they could still use it. "Looks like we should be there soon."

"Uh, Lance, do you see what I'm seeing?"

Frowning, taking note of the mixture of surprise and awe in Hunk's voice, he glanced up. Letting out a low whistle the moment he spotted it, he pumped the gas, speeding up a bit. "Guess he wasn't lying about there being other lions."

"No, guess not." Hunk admitted. "It looks kind of... _green_ , maybe? I thought he said he flew a red one."

"Maybe he's colorblind." Lance said with a shrug. Who knew how he saw the world with those freaky eyes of his. "Or maybe it's one of the other ones. He did say there were like, four others, right?"

"Yeah, guess he did." Hunk admitted. "So we're really going through with this, huh?"

"No turning back now, Hunk." Lance told him. "Besides, I've got a good feeling about today."

"You just say that because you didn't crash the simulator for once." Hunk pointed out.

"Wow, way to make it sound like that's a thing I do on the regular." Lance frowned, shooting a quick glance back towards his friend, before he focused his attention back out front.

"I mean..." Hunk trailed off. "Oh hey, there's the shack."

"And there's Keith." Lance noted, pulling the hoverbike to a stop, powering it off. Tugging off his helmet, he frowned. Part of him had nearly convinced himself that he'd made the guy up, but no, there he was in, in the flesh, all weird eyes and purple ears and bad hair.

Leaving his helmet on the hoverbike, he made the trek over towards where Keith was waiting, watching them expectantly. "Before you even ask," Lance began, "-yes, we disabled the tracker."

Well, Hunk did. But eh, details.

"Good." Keith told him, his tone curt. "Now come on."

Catching up with them, Hunk exchanged a glance with Lance. Shrugging his shoulders, he fell into step behind Keith, letting him lead them back to the dusty shack. The place was just as much of a wreck as it was yesterday, as if somehow, a princess coming over didn't justify cleaning it up a bit.

And oh man.

The princess.

It wasn't hard to pick out which of three people in the shack was the princess. Not only was she the only other alien there aside from Keith- and the presence of not one, but _two_ humans certainly caught him by surprise- but she was, well...

Blob with a tiara his ass, she was _gorgeous_. Take that, Hunk.

Standing a little straighter as she approached him, he put on his best smile. He might not know much about aliens, but that dress could not be comfortable in this heat, so if the princess was looking her best for him, then who was he to not return the favor?

Besides, who knew? If he hit it off with an alien princess, then maybe _King Lance_ would be in the cards one day. Now _that_ he could get behind.

"I am Princess Allura, of the planet Altea." And oh man, even her _voice_ was out of this world. "I wish that our meeting could be under better circumstances, but it is nevertheless an honor to meet the one chosen by the blue lion."

An honor. Oh man, _oh man_.

"I'm Lance McClain, of Earth." Dialing up the charm, he flashed the princess his most award winning smile. "And the honor's all mine, princess."

He could have sworn that the smaller of the two humans gagged, but he was going to ignore that. Nothing was about to ruin this moment for him, no sir.

"Uh, I'm Hunk." Hunk chimed in, coming up behind him. "Hunk Garrett. Also of Earth, since that seems to be a thing that we're doing."

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Hunk." Allura told him. "I understand you both have already met Keith, but please allow me to introduce you to the paladin of the green lion, Pidge, and her brother, Matt."

Sparing a quick glance towards the pair of humans, Lance's lips twisted into a frown. He didn't know what a paladin was, but that older brother of hers looked kind of familiar, now that he got a better look at him.

In fact, if you got rid of the scar, and gave him a pair of glasses, then...

...hold on a second.

"Matt?" Lance asked. "As in, _Matt Holt_ , of the Kerberos mission?"

"Wha- the one that was supposed to have crashed?" Hunk asked, looking over his shoulder. "Oh man, you're right, it really _is_ him. But I thought he was supposed to be-"

"Dead?" Matt finished, giving them both a toothy grin. "I'm afraid the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

...why did he get the feeling he'd been waiting all this time to say that?

Which _still_ didn't take away from the fact that he was here, in the flesh, very much not dead. He always thought that there was something fishy about the pilot error story, but he'd thought it was like, some kind of mechanical failure or something that the Garrison had tried to cover up. He'd never once imagined that any of it's crew could still be _alive_.

I mean, come on! The mission had _Takashi Shirogane_ as its pilot, and that guy was practically his hero! A legend! No way he could have made some kind of rookie error, not a chance.

And there was _definitely_ no way those nasty rumors circling around the Garrison were true. They never would have cleared him for that mission if he hadn't been in sound mental health, so something like him crashing the shuttle on purpose made no sense. So a mechanical failure was like, the only thing that made any sense.

"Guess we're starting from Kerberos, then." Keith remarked. He'd taken up a position against the back wall, arms folded in front of his chest. "Pidge, you want to do the honors?"

"Gladly." Springing to her feet, Pidge adjusted her glasses. "Long story short, the Kerberos mission didn't crash. It was abducted."

"By different aliens than these." Matt added, almost as an afterthought. Which was fair, he had kind of been just about to ask that.

"Wait, so you're saying the Garrison covered up an _alien abduction_?" Hunk asked. "Oh man. Oh man, this is serious."

"So if you're here," Lance began, looking at Matt, "-where's the rest of the crew?"

Ouch, loaded question. Figures- he'd remembered something about the Kerberos mission being crewed by a father son pair, or something along those lines. If this _Pidge_ was his sister, that would go along way to explain why she reacted badly to the question too.

Keith though... he couldn't really tell, but he could have sworn that he averted his eyes. Which was weird. Why would _he_ be upset about the crew?

As if sensing the mood, Allura stepped in, answering the question herself. "I am afraid that is something we still do not know. We believe them both to be alive, at least, but thus far, Matt is the only one that we have managed to locate."

"Well, to be more exact, we just kind of ran into each other in space." Pidge noted.

"You know, as you do." Matt said, making it sound super casual, which uh, it totally _wasn't_ , just for the record.

"So wait," pointing at Pidge, he gave her a skeptical look- she couldn't be older than what, _fourteen_?, "-you've been to space."

"Yes?" She told him. "Geez, try to keep up."

"So wait, these aliens that abducted the Kerberos mission," Hunk interjected, "-are they like, the same ones that you were talking about?" He asked Keith.

"Pretty much." Keith told him. "Right now, we don't think they know for sure that the blue lion is on Earth, but the faster we get it off your planet, the better."

"Maybe you should give them the full story, Allura?" Pidge suggested. "It might help."

"Yeah, I'm all for the full story." Hunk told them. "That's kind of what we came here to get."

"Yes, of course." Nodding her head, Allura took a step forward. "Where would you like me to start?"

"Uh, the Kerberos mission?" Lance suggested.

Sounded like as good a choice as any.

"As you know, the crew of the Kerberos mission was abducted from the far moon of your system. The ones who took them are known as the Galra Empire," and he didn't miss the faint way her gaze flickered over towards Keith as she spoke, which, _weird_ , "-and they are lead by Zarkon, a vile being who seeks only power, and is blinded by conquest."

"That sounds bad." Hunk noted. "Like, _really_ bad."

Yeah, way to state the obvious buddy.

"It gets worse." Pidge told him.

"Yeah, uh, that's not encouraging." Hunk told her. "You said these guys were over by Kerberos? Have they- have they been to Earth?"

"Twice." Keith spoke up.

Exchanging a nervous glance with Hunk, Lance chewed on his lip. "So this... Galra Empire, they want the blue lion?"

"Not just the blue lion." Allura told him. "Voltron is only weapon powerful enough to put a stop to Zarkon's empire, and now that he knows that it still exists, he will stop at nothing to track them all down."

"Fortunately," she added, giving them a faint smile, "-all lions but two are in our possession already. With the blue lion, that will make four, leaving us with only the yellow lion to track down."

"Like she said earlier, I'm the paladin of the green lion." Pidge chimed in, jerking her head up towards Keith. "And Keith's the paladin of the red lion. We have the black lion too, we just don't have a paladin for it yet."

"Paladin in this sense meaning pilot." Matt chimed in.

"Yes, it is as Pidge says." Allura told him, nodding her head. "We already know where the yellow lion is located, though getting it might be a bit tricky. Once all of the lions are assembled, and their paladins found, we will be able to form Voltron, and begin to fight back against Zarkon's empire."

"So these lions, are what, some kind of a super weapon?" Lance asked.

"It is a bit more complicated than that, but I suppose that is the short version of it." Allura told him.

Frowning, Lance nodded his head. "Right, well I can see why you'd want to keep that out of the hands of some kind of evil alien empire. But how'd one end up here on Earth?"

"Yeah, I've been wondering that too." Hunk admitted. "Giant robot lions don't exactly sound like the kind of thing you just lose track of."

Closing her eyes, Allura shook her head. "We did not lose track of them. In a last ditch effort to prevent Zarkon from obtaining them, my father sent them off to the far corners of the universe. The blue lion landed here."

"Like I said, the faster we get the lion and go, the better." Keith spoke up, butting into the conversation without so much as a trace of tact. "Right now they're not sure, but that could change at any moment. Once it does, it's only a matter of time before they find it."

"And trust me," Keith added, "-you don't want that."

"What, you some kind of Galra expert?" Lance asked.

Merely arching a brow, Keith didn't so much as flinch. "I'm part Galra."

"Wait, you're-?" Lance began, staring openmouthed at Keith, before turning around to face Allura. "He's part Galra? I thought you said the Galra were the _bad guys_!"

"The Galra _Empire_ are the bad guys." Pidge snapped, sounding almost defensive. "Keith's not part of the empire."

"Pidge is correct." Though she said that, Allura's tone sounded pretty darn strained. "Keith is part Galra, yes, but he is not the enemy. The red lion has chosen him."

"So what's the other part?" Hunk asked, blinking when all eyes turned to him. "What? You said he was only part Galra, so like, he has to be half of something else, right? That's how it usually works, right?"

"It doesn't matter what the other part of me is." Keith snapped, narrowing his eyes. "What matters is that we get the blue lion. Are you going to help us or what?"

"Wow, _someone's_ testy." Lance noted.

Baring his teeth, Keith drew up to his full height. "Look, I just don't-!"

" _Keith_." Raising her voice, Allura frowned, expression stern, even as Keith turned his glower towards her. "That is no way to speak to someone that we are asking for help."

Keith held her gaze for a moment longer, before he looked away. "Fine. Carry on without me, then."

Watching with one eye as Keith stalked across the room, Lance couldn't help but flinch as he slammed the door shut behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Pidge and Matt exchanging a glance.

Heaving a sigh, Allura's shoulders slumped. "I must apologize for Keith. He is... rather defensive on the subject of his heritage."

"No, I get it." Hunk told her. "That was my bad. Is he gonna be okay, though?"

"He'll be fine after he blows off some steam." Pidge told him. "Sometimes it's best just to give him his space."

Fine by him. He wasn't about to go after some cranky half alien with a mullet.

"So, back to the blue lion." Lance said. "You called me its _chosen_ or something, right?"

Nodding her head, Allura stood up straight again. "Yes. Much like Pidge and Keith are the paladins of their respective lions, you are the paladin of the blue lion."

"So that means what, exactly?" Lance asked. "Because that sounds like some kind of super awesome destiny thing to me."

Furrowing her brow, Allura gave him a small frown. "Yes, I suppose it would be destiny. I do not know about it being _super awesome_ though."

He barely even heard her, if he was going to be honest, too busy preening. Him? Chosen? Like some kind of legendary hero? How cool was _that_?

And they said he'd never amount to anything. Hah! In your face, Iverson- _he_ was a chosen pilot, and what were you? Just some underpaid military man working at a base in the dusty desert.

"I don't know, Lance." Hunk frowned. "From the sound of it, it kind of sounds like she's saying you have to fight against these Galra Empire guys."

"Pssh, how hard can it be?" Waving his hand, Lance brushed off his concerns. "I mean, this Voltron thing is supposed to be like, crazy powerful, right?"

"It's not that simple." Matt told him, his gaze hard. "Voltron might be powerful, but Zarkon's been building this empire of his for ten thousand years. Earth is located in one of the few pockets of space he _hasn't_ conquered yet."

"Matt's right." Pidge told him. "If we don't stop him, then it's only a matter of time before the Galra Empire invades Earth."

Oh, that... that sounded bad, yeah. Exchanging a glance with Hunk, it sunk into him then that maybe this whole thing was actually _serious_. It was just... some kind of alien space war sounded like something straight out of science fiction, but this was reality, wasn't it?

People died in reality.

"Matt and Pidge are correct." Allura told him. "Even with Voltron's power, it will not be an easy fight. We are still short two paladins and two lions, so we will not even be able to form Voltron until we find them."

"If you accept your destiny as the blue paladin, and come with us, I cannot say when you will be able to return to Earth." Allura confessed. "Finding another blue paladin will be difficult, but not impossible, and I would not wish to force this destiny on you, nor anyone else. The choice is yours."

"I-" Opening and shutting his mouth, Lance realized that he didn't know what to say to that.

Going into space? Flying the blue lion? Fighting evil aliens? That all sounded awesome, he wasn't going to lie.

But leaving behind _Earth_? His family? His friends?

Looking over at Hunk, he tried to picture a world where he wouldn't be able to just knock on his door any time he wanted. And his mom? Sure, he was only able to visit her on holidays, but Texas and Cuba were still a lot closer than Cuba and like... the rest of the universe.

But if Earth got taken over by these Galra Empire guys, would he even have a choice?

"I don't know." Lance admitted, shoulders sagging. "Can I think about it?"

Nodding her head, Allura gave him an understanding smile. "Of course."

"While you're thinking about that, any chance you can tell us who the Commander who found you with the blue lion was?" Pidge asked.

"Commander Iverson." Lance told her. "Why?"

"Need to know whose computer to hack." Pidge told him. "We'll be using the open house tomorrow to sneak into the Garrison as prospective cadets. All information about the blue lion is housed on the Garrison's internal network, so I need to be on the inside to gain access to it."

"Can't they like, charge with treason for that?" Hunk asked.

Shrugging her shoulders, Pidge looked indifferent. "Eh. We're already on Zarkon's Most Wanted list. Being charged with treason is _nothing_."

"Pretty sure they'd have to bring me back from the dead to charge me with treason." Matt pointed out. "God, it's so fucked up that I'm legally dead."

"Still not off the hook for those birthday presents." Pidge noted, elbowing her brother with a cheeky grin.

"Remind me the next time we're hanging around the black market. I'll pick you up something shiny." Matt told her.

Crinkling her nose, Pidge made a face. "Ugh, I hate shiny. And you don't just _hang around_ the black market, Matt."

"I like shiny." Allura ventured, holding up a hand, regal countenance seeming to fade at once.

Exchanging a glance with Hunk, for a moment, Lance couldn't help but wonder exactly what it was that he'd gotten them into- and who with.

* * *

"They leave?"

"They're gone." Pidge told him. "So you got the hoverbike working, huh?"

Resting his hand on it, Keith looked down at it. Honestly, he didn't know why he had worked so hard to restore it. He would only be leaving it behind again. Sure, he could ask Pidge to load it into the green lion, and they could take it to space with them, but compared to what they had come here to retrieve, his father's old hoverbike sounded so low priority.

Being selfish wasn't something he was good at.

"It was my father's."

For the life of him, he didn't know why he told her that. Maybe some part of him was just tired. Being here, on Earth... it felt like it was harder to keep things a secret, especially now that he was back at the shack, back to the closest thing he'd ever had to a home.

As expected, she perked up at the small bit of information right away. Pidge being Pidge, she'd probably already figured out he'd been raised here.

"Yeah?" She asked. "What did he do?"

Glancing down at her, he debated telling her. It wasn't like it would hurt if she knew, and she might even find it kind of funny. After all, the red lion was supposed to be the Guardian Spirit of Fire, so it fit.

"Firefighter."

Just as he expected, she let out a faint laugh. "What, and his son goes on to pilot the red lion? Now that sounds like fate."

"Yeah well," cracking a grin, Keith stroked the hoverbike, "-he probably would have gotten a kick out of it too."

He probably would have. He still didn't know what it was that his father had been doing with the blue lion, nor what it was that his mother had wanted with it, but the two things had to be connected. He could only hope that burning all of his research on it wouldn't backfire on him, praying that there was nothing important in there.

He just... he didn't want them to think any less of him. If they saw all of that...

Stupid, he knew. He'd be leaving them eventually anyways, and then they probably would. Maybe he was better at being selfish than he gave himself credit for.

"What happened to him?" Pidge asked, in that quiet tone of hers, when she dared a question she feared he wouldn't answer. She was naturally curious, he knew, so the fact that she let so much slip by without question was... he appreciated it. Really.

Closing his eyes, Keith turned away. "He died."

Out of the corner of his eye, peeking one open, he watched the way her face fell. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Keith told her. "It was a long time ago."

"How long?" She asked.

Leaning back against the hoverbike, Keith glanced down at his hand. Brows knitting together, he balled it into a fist, hiding the purple from view.

"I was eight."

Eight years old, and all alone in the world. Dead father, absent mother. It sounded like a sob story. Keith hated it.

"The shack was his." He continued, looking towards it. She already seemed to have figured out that much, no point in hiding it any longer. "We used to live here together."

He caught the glint in her eyes, one of a theory confirmed. "Christ, no wonder you're such a nature boy."

Giving her a small smile, Keith let out a faint laugh. "You should give it a shot. It might surprise you."

Crinkling her nose, Pidge made a face. "No thanks. I'll take a computer any day."

"Missing out." He told her. "Lance agree to help us?"

"Sort of." Pidge told him. "He'll help us get the blue lion, but he says he needs to think about the whole _paladin_ commitment."

Figures. As far as he could tell, he was just a normal run of the mill kid. Who the hell in their right mind would want to leave that behind, to fight a war in space?

Not that he was much of one to talk there. Not when he was planning to ditch everyone once they'd found all the lions. He wasn't sure what he'd do after that. Take his ship and leave, scramble the transponder code so Pidge couldn't find him. Maybe he'd keep searching for Pidge's father, if they hadn't found him by that point.

Keep looking for Shiro.

He'd bring him home, one day.

"You think he'll come?" Keith asked.

"Don't know." Pidge said with a shrug. "It's not like he's got any stake in this. We might be better off trying to find a new blue paladin. Maybe Matt could take a swing at it."

"Bet he'd like that." Keith observed.

"He would." Pidge said. "I think he's still hoping for the yellow lion."

"Not the black lion?" Keith asked.

"He said he's not ready for that kind of commitment." Pidge told him, and unable to help himself, he let out a loud snort. "Feeling better?"

Blinking, Keith glanced down at her. The idea of having people who worried about him was so strange- he thought he'd been getting used to it, back when he had lived with Shiro, but once he had been taken by the Galra, he'd forgotten the trick of it again.

Nobody worried about a halfbreed prisoner.

Nobody worried about a _weapon_.

"Yeah." Keith lied. "A bit. Sorry about storming out like that."

"Eh, can't really blame you." Pidge said. "It took nearly a year for you to tell me that you were half-human. I can't exactly expect you to leap at the chance to tell your life story to someone you've barely even met."

"I told Matt." Keith pointed out.

"Eh, Matt doesn't count."

"Don't let him hear you say that." Keith told her. "Pretty sure he'd cry."

"I'm his little sister." Pidge told him. "Making him cry is practically my job. Now come on, we've got a heist to plan."

Pushing himself up off the hoverbike, Keith trailed behind her.

Family must be nice.


	16. keith kogane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Mental state, mental state..." Matt muttered to himself, before something seemed to spark. "You know, now that I think about it, he mentioned something about a younger brother once. Some foster kid his family had taken in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rubs my hands together because here's chapter sixteen, and boy does it bring the goods. At least, in my humble opinion it does. Oh Shiro, if only you knew what kinds of crimes these kids are doing without you around to stop them. Where are you, impulse control, I ask as if I do not already know the answer and gleefully look forward to revealing it in the future.

"So uh, any chance you guys are still looking for a tour guide?"

Shifting nervously on his feet, the officer he spoke to barely so much as gave him an upward glance. "Bit late to be signing up, don't you think? The prospective cadets will be here in less than an hour."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I just-" Hunk began, rubbing the back of his head. "Just thought you guys could use the help, that's all."

Honestly, this hadn't been his idea. But between him and Lance, they had decided that he would look a little less suspicious if he suddenly made the offer. The Garrison wasn't watching them that closely, not if they had let them slip off campus twice, two days in a row, but there were still certain risks neither of them wanted to take.

They didn't want to face expulsion- or worse.

_Pidge_ might have laughed off the idea of being charged with treason but him? Un-uh. No way. Some of us weren't just going to jet back into space first thing.

"Well you're in luck," the officer told him, "-looks like we could use the help."

Exhaling, Hunk didn't even know he'd been holding his breath. The officer glanced up at him as he did, causing him to flinch, giving her a nervous smile.

Undercover missions- not his thing.

Even if it _was_ just playing tour guide and giving Pidge an excuse to slip away from the group close to Commander Iverson's office. On the surface, it sounded like something he could manage, but now that he was actually here, Hunk couldn't deny the butterflies that were flitting about his stomach.

Pidge had sounded pretty confident that she could pull everything off without a hitch, but he still didn't know. Hacking into the Garrison sounded like a risky business when one was doing it remotely, but pulling it off in person?

Not a risk he would take.

But then again, he wasn't exactly known for being a big risk taker. That was more of Lance's thing, much to his dismay.

Him? He just wanted the simple life. Maybe open a mechanic shop one day- or a bakery. Or both? He wasn't sure how both would work, but he was sure he could pull it off somehow, so long as he didn't accidentally deep fry a muffler or something. It was only because of Lance that he was at the Galaxy Garrison at all- when his friend had told him that he was applying, he'd impulsively applied with him.

Somehow it didn't occur to him that being a ship's engineer wasn't something he could do from the ground. Yeah, not his best moment, he'd admit that. It wasn't that he was _scared_ of flying, he was just...

Okay, yeah. He was kind of scared of flying. He'd admit it. There was just so much that could go wrong! And sure, as the ship's engineer, it would be his job to _keep_ things from going wrong, but like, that was part of the problem. What if he _couldn't_? What if he just made things _worse_?

So, yeah. Risks. Not his thing.

"Great, so uh- what do I need to do, exactly?" Hunk asked. "I mean, show them around, yeah, I've got that, but like- what else?"

Hey, if he was going to do this, he was at least going to do it right. So maybe the Garrison had lied about the Kerberos mission, and maybe they were covering up the existence of the blue lion, but he could at least sort of understand where they were coming from.

Odds were, they were trying to prevent a mass panic. Didn't mean he _agreed_ with it, but he could at least understand the reasons why.

"That's pretty much it." The officer told him. "You're in charge of Group D. Here's their names. Meet them in Wing A, Room 3."

"Group D, Wing A, Room 3. Got it." Hunk told her, taking the list of names from her. Pidge's group. He didn't know how she rigged it, but she'd gotten him put in charge of it. Casting a quick glance down at the names, he confirmed that there was in fact a _Pidge Gunderson_ listed as being a part of it- but that didn't catch half as much attention as the name under it did.

Allura Altea.

He was pretty sure his brain did the rough equivalent of a record scratch. Allura? As in, _Princess_ Allura? As in, the _alien_ princess?

Sure, she looked human enough- with a hat and maybe a bit of makeup, she could almost pass. The white hair would have been a hell of a fashion statement, but people could bleach their hair that color, so it wasn't _too_ strange.

Also was _Altea_ really her last name, or had that just been made up? Because he was pretty sure _Gunderson_ wasn't Pidge's last name, even though she'd never really given her last name, it was just safe to say it was probably _Holt_ on account of that she was the younger sister of Matt Holt and-

-and he was getting a bit off topic here. Right.

Refocusing his thoughts, Hunk gave the officer another smile, bowing his head. Might as well make his way to Wing A.

To his surprise, there were already a few faces gathered there. Checking to see if Pidge was one of them, he picked her out of the crowd, even as her small stature threatened to conceal her from view. The person standing next to her nearly-

-and his brain did that record scratch thing again.

Was that... was that _Allura_?

She looked... well, she looked _human_. Completely. Not even a trace of white hair or pointed ears, wearing casual Earth clothing... he never would have guessed, if he didn't already know. She caught his eye, giving him a small smile, confirming beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was her.

He nearly went up to talk to them, before he remembered that he really shouldn't. They had agreed it would be best if they all pretended they didn't know each other, so no one would catch wise.

It hit him then that they were really going to go through with this. They were going to steal the blue lion from the Garrison.

And then what? They would go back to space, he guessed. They had a war to fight.

Would Lance go with them? He'd been thinking about it alright. He'd spent half of yesterday evening steering him clear of things like walls, posts, and people, the question had him so lost in thought. But Hunk already knew what he would choose.

He'd go.

He'd go, because it was the right thing to do- and when it came down to it, Lance was that kind of guy. It might not be obvious on the surface, but he'd known him forever, so he knew him better than most- knew that underneath that lover boy personality of his, was a strong desire to be a good person, and to help.

The awesome space hero destiny part probably didn't hurt.

As did the hot alien princess part.

And the cool giant robot part.

Which left Hunk with a question of his own- what would _he_ do?

He had followed Lance to the Galaxy Garrison because he didn't want to part from him. They were friends, attached at the hip, some would say. He couldn't imagine _not_ having Lance in his life. But Lance would be leaving _Earth_ \- the safety of their planet, to go fight in some weird space war that they had never even heard about up until just yesterday.

Even if he wanted to go with him, wouldn't he just get in the way? What could he do? He hated fighting! Violence scared him! Loud noises freaked him out! War tended to involve all three of those things!

Putting it from his mind, Hunk cleared his throat. Catching the attention of the prospective cadets- and Pidge and Allura- he focused on doing the best job he could right here, right now. Think about the future later- there was still time for that, right?

"Uh, hi there." Hunk began. "I'm uh, I'm Hunk. Hunk Garrett. I'll be your student tour guide today?"

Smooth Hunk, real smooth.

"So I guess it looks like everyone's here so uh, I guess we can go ahead and start!" He told them, catching Pidge's eye. She flashed him a cheeky grin, and he frowned, wondering if he was doing that badly.

Allura gave him a reassuring smile, and he couldn't decide if that meant he was fine, or if she was just being polite. Princesses were hard to read, man.

"Just," pushing such thoughts aside- man he was doing a lot of that today, "-follow me."

Right. Okay, uh. Tour plan. Think Hunk, think.

He couldn't just bring them straight to the commander's offices, that would be like, way too suspicious. Start with something close, which would be-

-oh. Right. Wing A.

Well, this wasn't what he would have picked to start off the tour, but it was here, and walking past it just didn't feel right. Even if he now knew that at least three of the faces on it were actually alive and well.

Or well, _alive_. He didn't know about _well_. Being captured by an evil space empire seemed like it was the opposite of _well_.

"Uh, to our left, you can see the Garrison Memorial Wall." Hunk told them. "Guess that's kind of a somber note to start things off on, but the risks of space flight are pretty important to keep in mind. I mean, not that everyone on here died in a space flight, Commander Riley was in a car accident, and-"

-and he was saying too much. Again. Right.

Clearing his throat, Hunk shifted on his feet. "So uh, yeah. The memorial wall."

Waiting for what he thought was an appropriate length of time, Hunk let his gaze flit towards Pidge. She wore a complicated expression on her face, looking at the faces of her family members on the wall. He let himself look at the wall, the small collection of photographs hung there, their names and dates of birth listed alongside their dates of death.

Officers, commanders, and cadets alike- all except for one.

There was no photograph of Keith Kogane.

He'd heard it was because he still had a family member at the Garrison, one who denied the chance that he could be dead. Thus, no photograph, out of respect for them.

There had been chatter about that lately. Hunk hadn't meant to overhear it! He'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, catching two officers mumbling to themselves about whether or not it should be added now, now that his family was gone.

He wondered what they meant- there were no _Koganes_ at the Garrison. Not that he knew of.

"And, I guess we've got a lot of other things to see, so uh, come this way, I guess?" Hunk ventured, catching the attention of the tour group again. Pidge tore her gaze away from the memorial wall, a new fire lit in her eyes.

He got the feeling getting on her bad side was like, a really bad idea.

Leading the small tour group through the winding halls of the Galaxy Garrison, Hunk passed by several other points of interest, before reaching the hallway where the Commander's offices were housed.

"And here's where the Galaxy Garrison Command has their offices." Hunk told them. "We can't go down there, but generally you kind of don't want to do that, because it usually means you've done something very wrong. So uh, yeah- Commander's offices. Avoid them if you can."

Moving the group right along, he barely even noticed as Pidge slipped out of it, making her way down the hall he had just expressly said they couldn't go down. A bead of sweat trickling down the back of his neck, he caught Allura's eye, who merely gave him that same reassuring smile again.

Yeah, sure, easy for her. She was an alien princess. She could probably like, teleport or something.

Lance had the easy job. Sit in his room all day and try to connect with a giant metal cat? Why couldn't _he_ be the one doing that?

I mean, it was obviously because he wasn't a paladin, and Lance was, but as far as he was concerned, that was a minor technicality.

He just hoped Pidge's work went off without a hitch.

* * *

Iverson's computer was so easy to hack, it was almost criminal.

Which... yeah, she guessed it was. Totally illegal. But eh. She hadn't spent the past year racking up a space bounty to start caring about legality while she was here on Earth. Besides, it was for a good cause.

(Did she mean saving the universe, or spiting the Galaxy Garrison? Who knew.)

Transferring all information about Code Blue onto a flash drive, Pidge glanced at the clock. She probably had a little bit more time before Iverson realized that the call that had lured him out of his office was a hoax, and there _was_ kind of one thing that she wanted to check out while she was here.

The Kerberos mission report.

It read pretty much like she had expected it to. Mention of the shadow of something big passing over the moon of Kerberos, just before all contact with the crew was lost. They had sent out probes after the fact, only to discover that the shuttle was still intact, though the rover that they used to traverse the moon's surface appeared missing.

It was like the crew had just vanished without a trace.

It also detailed the cover up- pilot error, under the presumption that there would be mass panic if the public found out the truth. Frowning, she had to admit that... wasn't as terrible a reason as she would have thought, but it still ticked her off.

Maybe the public _should_ panic about an evil space empire knocking on their door.

What caught her eye the most was a mere footnote- something she would have barely paid attention to otherwise.

_Deny any possibility that the crash was caused by the pilot's emotional state._

Narrowing her eyes, she found herself wondering what that even meant. Shiro's emotional state? She had met him a few times, and he always seemed fine. Maybe a bit somber, but she assumed that was just how he was.

Downloading the file, she snatched it, and both her family's and Shiro's personnel files while she was at it. She would go over the latter later, when she had the time. Unplugging the flash drive, she erased all traces of her presence, slipping out of the office.

Scurrying down the hallway, she didn't breathe easy until she was out of the commander's hall, and back in the public part of the Galaxy Garrison. Tucking the flash drive away, she pulled out her com link, shooting off a message to Allura, asking where she was right now.

She got a response within a minute. The commissary.

Oh good, she was kind of hungry. Maybe she'd get the chance to try those freeze dried peas her father always went on about.

* * *

"And here we have an assortment of top secret Galaxy Garrison files, for your viewing pleasure."

Holding up the flash drive as if it were a trophy, Pidge beamed from ear to ear. The plan had gone off without a hitch, and now they were back at the shack, complete with their ill gotten gains.

Beaming, Matt booted up her laptop. "That's my sister! Now let's fire this baby up and see what we've got!"

Collapsing on the couch next to him, Pidge grinned. Thank god she'd snatched one of those Altean power packets they kept around the castle-ship, because she wasn't even sure this place had _outlets_ , much less working electricity. She would hate for her laptop to die on her when she needed it the most.

"I must say," Allura said, "-it was quite interesting to see inside of your planet's leading space exploration program."

Letting out a snort, Keith arched a brow. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, our entire space program is like a _dinosaur_ compared to the Castle." Pidge remarked.

"While I do not know what a _dinosaur_ is," Allura began, "-I stand by my statement. I think your kind is doing rather well for itself, all things considered. Though I will admit, the color palette could use some work."

"Yeah, I could never quite get into the orange and gray." Matt remarked. "Totally not my color."

Keith let out another snort at that, lips twitching in a private grin. "So? Where exactly is the blue lion?"

"Give me a second, geez." Pidge said, plugging in the flash drive and getting to work. "According to this, it's in the east wing of the campus. Underground, too."

"Well that complicates things." Matt observed.

"Ya think?" Keith asked, leaning over, scanning the building schematics. "We might actually need Lance for this one."

"Speaking of which, has he made contact?" Allura asked.

"Nope." Matt told her. "Been listening for the phone all day. Only peep was from mom- who said hi, by the way." He quickly added. "I'm guessing he hasn't made up his mind yet."

"Can it be done without him?" Allura asked.

"Probably." Keith admitted. "It'd be easier with the red lion, though. I don't think getting the green lion in there is going to be that simple. Or subtle."

"Keith's right." Pidge told her. "We'd be able to manage, but this whole plan would be a lot more simple if Lance could just fly it out of there."

"Guess we'll go ahead and plan for both." Matt said. "I'm pretty sure Keith and I could get Lance _in_ there without too much trouble. It's getting _out_ that I'm worried about."

"The lions can run." Keith observed. "Might be a bit of a tight squeeze, though."

"Well they got it _in_ there, so there must be a way to get it back out." Pidge said. "I'll go over the information, see what I can find. Maybe I can come up with something useful."

"In that case, I shall go contact Coran." Allura told her. "Let him know that we are close to forming a plan to retrieve the blue lion."

"Sure he'll be thrilled." Pidge said. "He's probably starting to get a little lonely, on the Castle all by himself."

"Yes, that he is." Allura said, letting out a faint laugh, before excusing herself.

Once she was gone, the door shut behind her, Pidge glanced towards Matt. "You know, the information on the blue lion wasn't the _only_ thing I pulled from the Garrison's internal database."

Lifting his brows, Matt leaned in. "Yeah? What did you get? The swimsuit issue?"

"The swimsuit issue of what, _Commander's Monthly_?" Pidge cracked. "Nope, I got something even better."

Bringing up the Kerberos files, she practically beamed from ear to ear. "I was thinking about leaking them over the Internet. Could serve as a distraction."

"Could also serve to let them know that someone's been rooting around in their server." Keith pointed out. "Put them on high alert."

Shooting him a look, Pidge's lips twisted in a frown. "Spoilsport."

Shrugging his shoulders, Keith looked indifferent. "One of us has to be the impulse control."

"Keith, you are like, the least qualified out of us to be the impulse control." Pidge said. "As in, I'm amazed you even know the concept."

Frowning, Keith narrowed his eyes. "Hey, I can control myself perfectly fine."

"Is that why you got into that fight on Yaxiv 4? Because you could control yourself perfectly fine?" Pidge asked, lifting her brows.

"I thought we agreed never to talk about what happened there." Keith told her, shooting her a glower.

"Don't remember it." Pidge told him with a shrug, before changing the topic. "Matt, you knew Shiro well, right?"

"Yeah, kind of?" Matt frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"There was something in the Kerberos report that didn't make sense to me." Pidge told him, bringing up the report. "See, this here. What's this about Shiro's mental state?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn that Keith flinched, but when she glanced in his direction, his expression had settled back into being impassive. Looking back towards Matt, she instead focused on the furrow of his brows, like he was trying to figure it out himself.

When Keith left her line of vision, she barely even noticed.

"Mental state, mental state..." Matt muttered to himself, before something seemed to spark. "You know, now that I think about it, he mentioned something about a younger brother once. Some foster kid his family had taken in."

"Hey," Keith's voice caught her attention, dimly noting the helmet he was carrying, "-I'm going to do another check around the Garrison's perimeter. Make sure nothing's out of place."

"Want me to tell Allura when she's done with Coran?" Pidge asked.

"Yeah, thanks." Flashing her a faint smile, Keith tucked on his helmet, leaving the shack. Outside, she could hear the sound of his hoverbike coming to life.

Frowning, she couldn't shake the feeling that there had been something _off_ about Keith's smile- before she pushed the thought from her mind, turning back towards Matt. "So? What's this about a foster brother?"

"Uh, Shiro's family took him in when he was like, eleven, I think? Twelve?" Matt frowned. "Vanished, though."

"Vanished?" Pidge asked. "Like, ran away?"

"Nobody knows. Just went into the desert one day, and never came back. Everyone but Shiro thought he was dead." Matt told her with a shrug. "I think he was a cadet at the Garrison for awhile. Pretty talented, from what I remember. His name was uh... Kogane, I think."

"Guessing that's a last name." Pidge noted, bringing up Shiro's file, wondering if it had any information about this brother of his. It was certainly the first she was hearing about it, but it's not like she knew him all that well.

"Yeah, it's-" Matt frowned, stopping short, the furrow of his brow deepening. Hand straying to his chin, he looked troubled.

"Matt?" Frowning, Pidge looked up at him. "You okay?"

"Let me see that." Without waiting for an invitation, Matt all but took the laptop from her, scanning Shiro's file. "Son of a bitch."

"What?" Pidge frowned, trying to peer at the screen herself and failing, Matt having angled it just so. She was pretty sure he hadn't done it on purpose, but it was still frustrating.

"It's Keith." Matt told her.

"I-" Blinking, Pidge's brows knit together. "Matt, _what's_ Keith?"

"Keith." He repeated. "I- Shiro's brother. His name was _Keith_."

Opening and closing her mouth, Pidge snatched the laptop back from her brother, scanning the file herself. There it was, printed out in plain English for her- Kogane, Keith.

"Matt...?" Pidge asked, unable to quite tear her eyes away from the screen, her brain already starting to make the connections. Keith's unusual investment in Shiro, how he used his age to track his own, his knowledge of the Galaxy Garrison... it all fit.

But if he'd been a cadet, then that meant...

"...do you know what age this brother of Shiro's was when he disappeared?"

"Fourteen." Meeting her brother's eyes, a mutual understanding passed between them. "He was fourteen."

Setting aside the laptop, Pidge got to her feet. "I'm going to find Keith."

He must have known, must have realized. He hadn't left to go check on the perimeter, he'd left because he knew they were getting close. That just a little bit further, and they'd connect the dots, and realize that everything they thought they knew about him had been wrong.

This whole time, they'd been wrong.

Had Keith _ever_ been part Galra? No, he must have. He might evade the truth, but the one thing he never did was _lie_ , not outright. If Keith said his mother was Galra, it was likely true. Whatever had been done to him, it likely only brought out what was already there- _if_ something had been done to him, and this wasn't some kind of survival adaptation.

_"Pidge, I didn't even know what the Galra_ _**were** _ _until-"_

"Do you want me to come with you?" Matt asked.

"No, stay here in case he comes back." Pidge told him. "And don't tell Allura."

* * *

"Keith Kogane."

There was no accusation in Pidge's tone, but he didn't expect there to be any.

He wasn't surprised that she found him. He hadn't done a very good job of hiding. Hadn't even gone out that far- some part of him knew that she would likely chase after him, and he didn't want to risk her getting lost in the desert.

His dad used to take him here, sometimes. It had been so long since he had been here last, this hill, from which the desert sprawled out before him. One could see for miles from this spot. His father would bring along a pair of binoculars, and they would use it to spot animals down in the valley, and he'd talk for what felt like hours about them.

He missed that.

He missed him.

Drawing in a long breath, he felt his shoulders slump. Running away had been stupid, but he just didn't want to be there when they connected the dots. They would, he knew. Even without a picture, he'd dropped enough hints without meaning to, to allow them to piece it together.

They were smart, the both of them. In space, he could probably hide his secret for years more, but back here on Earth, he supposed it was only a matter of time before it came out in the open.

"...yeah."

His voice was faint, almost a whisper.

Settling down next to him, he felt Pidge's eyes on him. He didn't look up, instead focusing on the helmet in his hands. The reflection the tinted visor showed him was distorted, masking the purple, but even with that, it wasn't enough to hide what made him so inhuman.

He hated his face.

He hated being Galra.

"So," she began after awhile, "-you knew Shiro, huh?"

Closing his eyes, Keith let go of the helmet, letting it fall in his lap. "His parents took me in when I was twelve."

"So he's your brother?" Pidge asked.

"Foster brother." Keith told her.

"So back when you first returned to Earth, when I showed you the data that I had collected on the Kerberos mission...?" Pidge ventured. "You didn't know, did you."

"No." Keith told her, opening his eyes.

It was in that moment, that he had decided he would return to space. He would have gone sooner, had it not been for Pidge.

Shiro was out there somewhere, being held prisoner by the Galra. He couldn't just leave him to that fate. He knew all too well what they were capable of. Even worse, if they rooted around in his memories, they might realize that they bore a connection. Even if him being on that moon was total coincidence, it might be enough to catch Haggar's attention.

He couldn't let Shiro go through the same things he had.

Younger brothers shouldn't have to protect their older brothers, he thought Shiro would say. That is, if Shiro could even stand the sight of him. If he could even consider him a brother, now that he looked every bit the monster that he had always been, just hidden deep down.

"...I'm sorry."

Finally looking up at her, there was an understanding in Pidge's eyes. She knew what it was like to lose a loved one to the Galra, to have them out there somewhere, just beyond their reach.

Tearing his gaze away, Keith instead focused on the horizon. "We'll find them."

Nodding her head, she drew up her knees, resting her chin on top of them. "We will."

They sat there in silence like that for the longest, watching as the sun started to creep downwards over the horizon. Nothing could beat a desert sunrise, but desert sunsets were nothing to sneeze at either.

His vision had changed, but they were still beautiful.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Staring down at the purple of his fingers, Keith clenched and unclenched his fists. "Used to be less purple."

She let out a laugh at that, cracking a smile. "Yeah, I kind of guessed. Matt said you used to be a cadet."

"Yeah, for like half a year." Keith told her, the faintest hint of one on his own face. "Broke a bunch of records and then disappeared."

"I'm going to be honest, that sounds a lot like you." Pidge told him. "I mean, granted, disappearing wasn't your choice, but-"

Now he _did_ crack a smile. "You're not wrong."

"Since when am I ever?" She asked.

"Xanos."

Crinkling her nose, Pidge glowered at him. "I thought we agreed not to talk about that."

"You brought up Yaxiv 4." Keith pointed out.

"Hm, fair." Pidge admitted. "So what... what happened to you, Keith? How did you...?"

"Misplace my pupils?" Keith finished for her.

"I mean, that's not how I would have put it, but yeah, that." Pidge told him, chewing on her lip. "Is it... would it be wrong of me to tell you that I'm having a hard time picturing you _with_ them?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Keith leaned back against his father's hoverbike, feeling the warm metal creep against his skin. It was a pleasant sensation. "You didn't know me before."

_When I still looked human_ , but that went without saying.

"Zarkon's witch happened."

There it was, out in the open. Not the whole story, but a piece of it. One huge piece, which could spark a chain reaction, leading into all the others, everything else that he sought to keep hidden, buried. Secrets that could possibly destroy their relationship forever.

Allura, who could sense quintessence, would certainly recoil from it. He felt as if they were slowly moving towards understanding each other, but if she knew, it would likely push her over the edge into rejecting him, permanently.

Not that he would blame her. If she was serious about this, about fighting against Zarkon, about reforming this... this _Voltron_ , then they would be better for it.

"Haggar?" Pidge asked. "She did this to you?"

Nodding his head, Keith gazed upwards. "Guess she thought I needed to look the part."

"Do you think it could be reversed?" Pidge asked.

"Pretty sure this is permanent." Keith told her, turning his head to look at her. "Even if it wasn't, I think I've had my body tampered with enough."

She flinched at that, causing him to wince internally. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Nope, I get it." Pidge told him. "Don't apologize."

"You're like fourteen, you don't get to tell me what to do." Keith teased, cracking a faint smile.

"Uh, excuse you, I'm _sixteen_." Pidge corrected.

"Barely." Keith rolled his eyes, in spite of knowing it didn't really work anymore.

"Quit ruining the moment." Pidge said, jabbing him in the side with her elbow. "I followed you because I was worried about you, jackass, so stop spoiling it and let me tell you how much of my friend you are."

Smile faltering, Keith looked away. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

"You don't know everything about me either." Pidge told him, making it sound so simple. "I know what kind of person you are, and that's what matters most."

Frowning, Keith watched as the sun sank into the horizon, painting the sky in vivid hues of pink. "I don't know if that's enough."

"It is to me." Pidge told him.

Turning to look down at her, Keith felt something stir in his chest. He should crush this hope, he knew, it would only hurt him in the long run, but... maybe- maybe that really was enough.

_Home_ , he heard the red lion rumble, _family_.


	17. resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So you signed up for a space war."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. How about that season seven trailer. Where do you even start with that thing. Boy howdy though, it sure looks like season seven is going to be one hell of a ride- and I, for one, am looking forward to it. Also I'm very proud of Shiro, my gay space son. He's doing such a good job. It's really funny to me that I'm saying this on like, the one story he hasn't shown up in yet, but hey! That's just how life works sometimes! He'll be here soon, though. Soon.
> 
> Next chapter, it's time to go get that blue lion!

"So do you want to tell Allura?"

The question caught him off guard, glancing back at where Pidge had tucked herself behind him, grasping onto his shoulders so that she wouldn't fall off of the hoverbike. "What, that I'm a product of Galra experiments? No thanks."

Okay, so his choice of words was a bit on the risky side there, but he hadn't given Pidge any reason to think he meant anything more by it. Besides, he'd never been good at lying- he was too blunt for that. He was better at just never saying anything.

He hadn't talked this much with other people since... well, _Shiro_. Sure, it wasn't like he had a lot of options while he was in Galra custody. It wasn't like Haggar or the druids ever talked to him, and the minute that those he shared a cell with learned he was half-Galra, they had all clammed up.

Like he'd betrayed them, somehow.

He hadn't stayed in the general prison block long after that, for which he was almost grateful. Just because he could handle people treating him like he was some kind of plague didn't mean he particularly _enjoyed_ it.

Even if that meant he'd ended up being treated as some kind of pet project by Haggar. It had waned a bit towards the end of his captivity- he'd heard rumors that she'd taken fancy to another prisoner, and was dividing her time between the two of them. Which was just fine for him- who knew how much more fucked up he'd be if he'd had her full, undivided attention for that last year or so of captivity.

Not that he didn't feel sorry for the other guy. He did.

Just- look. He could be grateful that he hadn't been experimented on more _and_ sympathize with the reason for that at the same time. He could multi-task!

"Oh come on, it wouldn't be _that_ bad." Pidge told him. "She might even like you better if she knew you used to look more human."

Frowning, Keith focused on the sound of the hoverbike's motor to keep himself from thinking too much. Thinking about the witch at all usually lead his thoughts in a direction he didn't like. "I'm not sure I want her to trust me just because of something like that. Just because I used to look more human, doesn't change the fact that I _am_ half-Galra."

Glancing down at Pidge, she didn't look happy, but she didn't say anything either. It almost made him smile, but he fought the urge. He didn't know what he had done to earn her trust, but he must have done something right.

For like, once in his life.

He still didn't know if that trust would last, if she were told everything. He wished that a change in appearance was all Haggar had done to him. If anything, it was a side effect.

She put her faith in him, so he should at least _try_ and return a little of that- but he'd been let down too many times before to truly believe in anyone like that. He _wanted_ to hope, he did, but it was- it was hard, to left himself do that. Not when nearly every part of him told him to nip it in the bud, before it could hurt him.

Bringing the hoverbike to a stop, he stared out towards the shack. Inside was Matt, who he knew even less well than Pidge. And now _he_ knew too.

Keith Kogane. Nobody had called him by his full name in ages.

"He won't bite." Pidge told him, hopping off the hoverbike.

Letting out a snort, Keith got off behind her. "I'm not afraid of _Matt_ , Pidge."

"Could have fooled me." Pidge told him. "Come on, _cadet_ ," nudging him with her elbow, she flashed him a cheeky grin, "-we've got a heist to plan. Thought you'd be more excited about that."

"What, stealing from the Garrison?" Keith asked, cocking a brow. "I stole the red lion from under Zarkon's nose. This'll be like a piece of cake."

He hadn't been remodeled into some kind of biological superweapon to get caught by the _Galaxy Garrison_ , out of all the possible groups. He was pretty sure he could handle this. By himself, even.

Maybe not in the most subtle of manners, but he doubted that anything about this heist was going to be _subtle_ , not once they got their hands on the blue lion. They would probably need to clear out immediately afterwards- no going back to the shack to regroup.

They were set to rendezvous briefly back at the lake house, and then head back to space in short order. Once they left Earth, they wouldn't have anything to worry about- the Garrison just didn't have the kind of ships that would be able to pursue them that quickly that far into space.

"Now I miss cake." Pidge mumbled, half to herself. "Do you think if I called mom, she'd have some ready for us when we get back home?"

Blinking, Keith glanced down at her. _We_. _Home_. "...you're asking me?"

"Yeah?" Pidge frowned. "I mean, you lived with us for awhile, dude, you're practically family at this point."

Frowning, Keith turned away from her. He didn't know what to make of that, either. Sure, he'd lived with Pidge and her mom, that much was true, but it had barely even been for two months. It had taken him twice as long to warm up to Shiro's family, and that had been when he still looked- and thought of himself as- human.

He didn't know if he was ready for another family.

"Pass." Keith told her, hastening his pace just enough so that she wouldn't be able to see his expression. Sometimes he was grateful for having eyes that were difficult to read, but he knew the rest of his face would likely betray him. "Pretty sure I get more respect from you as your business partner than I would get as your older brother, so pass."

If she caught any of what he was thinking, he couldn't tell. All she did was snort, trailing behind him. "Wow, business-zoned."

"Pretty sure that's not a word." Keith pointed out.

"Says the guy who spent four years away from Earth." Pidge pointed out.

"Nope." Keith said. "Pretty sure that's not a word."

"Fine, suit yourself." Pidge said with a shrug. "Hopefully Matt's gotten somewhere with those schematics while we were gone."

"If I called the red lion, I bet I could just melt the roof off." Keith told her.

"...yeah, let's not do that, maybe." Pidge frowned. "We're trying to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible, mister explosions make for the best distractions."

"I mean, they do." Keith said.

"Yeah, well-" Pidge began, before cutting herself short.

It didn't take him long to see why. Matt and Allura were huddled around the phone, only sparing them a glance when they came back in. Some instinctive part of him nearly wanted to look away, reminding him that Matt knew now, but he forced himself to hold his gaze.

He wasn't going to run away from this.

Well, not _again_. He had, actually, ran away from it. That was kind of the whole reason that Pidge had come after him.

What if they looked at him with pity? He didn't think he could handle that.

But that wasn't important right now. What _was_ important was the phone call. It had to be Lance, so it looked like they would be getting that answer they wanted. Shifting his weight onto his other foot, Keith folded his arms in front of him, watching as Matt seemed to beam- and then gave them both a thumbs up.

Clear enough indication as any that Lance had agreed to help them.

But _join_ them? That was another matter.

Just helping them get the lion put him at risk. He had no reason to help them any further, much less go to _war_ with them. They were just a bunch of strangers- and he was just a kid from Earth. Normal, whose involvement with the Galra ended with training at the same facility as the crew of the Kerberos mission, who had been abducted by them.

He didn't know if the blue lion would accept another paladin, but Allura seemed to think it was possible- and she would have cause to know better than him.

Which he guessed was good news for him.

Maybe he didn't _have_ to leave- but he would, if he needed to. What they were building here- it had the potential to do something great. Something that could change the way things were.

He didn't want to be the one to hold that back.

If he could stay, then... well, maybe he would give that a shot after all. But if he needed to leave, if it became clear that he was their weak link, or that he was holding them back from forming Voltron, then he would.

The fate of the universe was more important than his feelings.

"Welp," Matt grinned, hanging up the phone, "-I've got some good news for everyone."

"Lance has agreed to join us." Allura cut in, barely able to contain her excitement, leaving Matt to pout about having his thunder stolen.

"Like, _join us_ join us?" Pidge asked.

"Yes." Allura said, joy clear in her voice. Guess she hadn't predicated this outcome either- he sure as hell hadn't. "It would seem that we have found our blue paladin after all."

Frowning, Keith furrowed his brow. "Is he sure? This is a big commitment."

Seriously- he had no reason to join them. What, did he get taken in by the destiny line or something? Guess nobody had told him that destiny was bullshit.

...and yeah. If he was going to be honest, there was some small part of him that hated the fact that a cadet who kept crashing the simulator was still a better choice for a paladin than he was. Being jealous was stupid, _petty_ \- but here he was- jealous.

"He sounded pretty sure to me." Matt told him. On the surface, he seemed to be acting normally, but it felt as if he held his gaze for just half a second too long.

Made sense. He'd known Shiro. Flown a mission with him.

He wondered if Shiro ever talked about him. Or if he was just the foster kid who had disappeared on him, someone that he tried to forget. He'd once promised to never give up on him, but he was pretty sure that by now, he had to have realized that he wasn't coming back.

_Would_ he even have come back, even if Shiro hadn't been taken by the Galra Empire? Returned home, like nothing had happened? _Could_ he even still call that place his home?

He didn't have much of a plan when he'd crash landed here on Earth, other than to get away from Central Command. Earth had been the only place he could think to go back to. It wasn't like he could _stay_.

He tried to picture himself arriving on the Shirogane's doorstep, purple and clawed, and couldn't. In the end, he'd only lived with them for about three years before he had been abducted, and out of them, the only person he'd really let himself get close to was Shiro. Wouldn't they just freak out at the sight of him?

The foster kid they had taken in, showing back up after four years, older and inhuman. Yeah. He was sure that would go over _great_.

But then again, Pidge's mother hadn't known him at all. Though she'd freaked out at first, once she realized that he wasn't a threat, she'd gone so far as to feed him, and then invite him to stay in her home. Maybe... maybe he just didn't give people enough credit, some part of him thought.

Sure, he'd met a lot of bad people, but it wasn't like they could _all_ be like that, right?

He wanted to believe that, but couldn't quite bring himself to do it. Too much proof to the contrary.

"Guess we're going with Plan A, then." Pidge remarked.

Listening to the Holt siblings drone on with one ear, hashing out the details of the heist, Keith hung back. He could hear Red's low rumble in the back of his head, chastising him for putting distance between himself and them- and maybe she was right.

But after too long of not being able to trust anyone, it wasn't so easy to just flip the switch. It had gotten stuck somewhere along the way, rusted. He didn't know if he even _could_ flip it anymore.

But it wouldn't hurt to try.

* * *

"So you signed up for a space war."

"I signed up for a space war."

He and Hunk were both naturally chatty people, so silences between them? Yeah, they didn't happen that often. But it did now, the weight of the decision he had just made hanging over the both of them like a cloud. He hadn't even put down his phone, still holding onto it, as if some part of him thought that it wasn't too late- that if he called them back right now, he could still change his mind. Back out.

But no.

He hadn't spent all day confined to his room, trying to connect to a giant robot, to back out now. He'd given it thought- _a lot_ of thought, and in the end, knowing that there was some kind of tyrannical space empire out there bent on conquering the known universe outweighed having to leave Earth behind.

Sure, that's where his friends were, where his _family_ was- but what good would that do them if a couple years down the road, it just ended up being taken over by this _Zarkon_ guy?

But he had a chance at making sure that never happened.

And maybe he wasn't _exactly_ the most selfless guy around- he was willing to admit that. Sometimes he could get a little wrapped up in his own ego, but hey- he'd worked hard for what he had, he deserved a little ego every now and again.

But he wasn't exactly _selfish_ , either.

This wasn't about the cool robot lion, or a hot alien princess- although those were factors in his decision, he'd admit that, he wasn't a liar. It was about doing what was right- and this time, doing what was right meant leaving his home behind him. His family, his friends.

Hunk.

"So you're really going, huh?" Hunk asked, his voice soft.

"...yeah, guess so." Lance told him, finally setting aside his phone. No turning back now. "Guess this means goodbye."

"I mean, it's not like you're leaving right away, right?" Hunk asked, biting his lip. "You've got time."

"I mean, I guess?" Lance frowned. "From the sound of it, we'll be leaving like, right after we get the blue lion. They just weren't very clear on when exactly that would be, but... yeah. Once we get it, it's goodbye."

"Makes sense." Hunk said. "I'm just amazed the Garrison got that thing back here without anyone noticing. So I'm _pretty sure_ they'll notice when you steal it."

"Hey, at least I'll be making a hell of an exit." Lance grinned- though he knew it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Hunk just gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, guess so."

Shoulders slumping, Lance got up, crossing the room to sit next to his friend. "Hey, you okay?"

Stupid question. Of course he wasn't.

Hunk was here because of him- and now he was leaving him behind. By himself. After everything he had done for him, how could he _not_ feel bad about it? He was like, the single greatest friend that anyone could ask for.

"I'm- yeah." Hunk told him. "This is just- it's big. I mean, you're leaving! To go to space! And not like in the way we always knew would happen one day, but like- you're going to _war_ , man. I'm just... what if you don't come back?"

Yeah. He'd thought about that too.

"Hunk," placing his hand on his friend's shoulder, Lance gave it a squeeze, "-I'm coming back. I promise you."

"Yeah, but-" Hunk began, before heaving a sigh. "It's just. You know how I am. I worry."

"Trust me, I know." Lance told him, his words fond. He sure did. There were times it had gotten on his nerves, he wasn't going to lie, but he knew Hunk worried because he cared. "I mean, it's not like we can't keep in touch, right? Maybe the princess has like, some kind of communicator or something that we can borrow."

It seemed to give Hunk some relief, though not as much as he hoped. "What about your family though?"

"I don't know." Lance admitted, gaze tracking downwards. He'd given that a lot of thought too. "It's not like I can just call them and tell them I've been chosen to pilot a robot lion, and that I'm going to space to fight some evil aliens. They'll just think I'm nuts. Heck, that _sounds_ nuts!"

"When you put it that way, it does sound pretty nuts." Hunk agreed.

Cracking a smile, Lance looked up at him. "I'm gonna miss you, Hunk."

And there they were, the waterworks. If he was gonna be honest, he was surprised that Hunk had held off this long. But damned if seeing him cry didn't make him tear up too, especially after Hunk pulled him into a tight embrace. For a long time, he just let him sob on his shoulder, trying not to think too much on all the snot that was getting on his uniform right now.

Not like he'd be wearing it for much longer.

"I'm gonna miss you too, man." Hunk told him. "So much. It's not gonna be the same without you around here. We'll have to get a new pilot, and-" stopping himself there, Hunk let out a loud sniffle, "You gotta stay safe for me out there, okay? Don't do anything stupid."

"Please, like I've ever done anything stupid." Lance joked. He'd return the hug, but it was kind of hard to get his arms free. Hunk could be pretty strong.

"Lance-" Hunk warned.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Lance told him. "Promise."

"Okay, good." Hunk told him. "You better stick to it."

"I will." Lance reassured him. "And hey- I bet that Kogane kid never got to do anything this cool. Maybe I couldn't break his records, but maybe I'll finally outshine his legacy."

Hunk let out a snort at that, before looking vaguely horrified. "That's just mean, Lance. I shouldn't have laughed at that."

"Yeah, but you did." Lance told him, lightly punching his shoulder, now that he'd managed to get his arm free. "But I won't hold it against you. You good?"

"I'm good. Or well- getting there. I'll be good." Hunk told him, finally letting his grip grow slack. "Just- let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Arching his brows, Lance had to admit, he was more than a little surprised at the offer. Hunk was a good friend, but he wasn't exactly known for taking risks. "You offering to help steal from the Garrison?"

"I mean... the blue lion doesn't belong to them, right?" Hunk asked. "It belongs to the princess. Or her father? One of them. So it's not so much _stealing_ as it is returning it to its rightful owner? Does that make sense to you? It makes sense to me, but does that make sense to you?"

"It makes sense to me, buddy. I'll tell them. Glad to know I can count on you." Lance told him, an idea popping into his head just then. "Hey, how about we sneak down to the commissary tonight, get us a little late night snack? For old times sake."

"Lance, we did that last week." Hunk pointed out.

Bristling a little at the comment, Lance narrowed his eyes. "Don't give me that. You know what I mean."

"Yeah," giving him a weak smile, Hunk wrapped his arm around his shoulder, "-I do."

"So you in?" Lance asked.

"You're asking me if I'm in for midnight snack." Hunk pointed out. " _Me_."

"...okay, yeah, stupid question." Lance admitted.

Leaving. He'd be leaving. To go far, far away, from anything- and any _one_ \- he knew. He didn't know when, he just knew it would be soon. He knew he was doing the right thing, making the right choice, it was just... he thought that knowing that would make the whole thing easier.

It didn't.

* * *

"Pidge told me I might find you up here."

Keith didn't look up, or even move to acknowledge him. Instead he stared straight ahead, watching as the sun sunk down over the horizon, casting the entire desert in shades of pink and purple. He almost thought he hadn't heard him, but the twitch of his ears told him that he was just ignoring him.

Which, ow. Thanks, Keith.

Still, Matt didn't let that discourage him. Pidge had reassured him that Keith was fine- well, for _Keith_ , he was. And maybe she was right- maybe Keith _was_ fine. But it wouldn't hurt to talk to him, even if he was.

Better than let things just fester. Especially since they would be working together so closely to steal the blue lion. Sneaking Lance into where the blue lion was being kept was their job, so they had to be able to work together as a team.

Finally, once he sensed that he wasn't going anywhere, Keith acknowledged him. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Matt said. "This seat taken?"

"Does it _look_ taken?" Keith quipped.

Shrugging, Matt plopped down next to him, crossing his legs in front of him. "You never know. Maybe you're chilling with a ghost."

That earned him a laugh, a hint of white flashing as Keith momentarily bore his teeth in a grin. "I didn't peg you as the type to believe in ghosts. Doesn't sound very scientific."

"I've seen a lot of weird shit in space." Matt told him. Which was true. He had. So much weird shit. "So who knows. Maybe science is wrong. Maybe ghosts are real. Maybe _I'm_ a ghost."

"You are legally dead, so _technically_ -" Keith began.

"Nope." Holding up his hands, Matt stopped him right there. "You're in the same boat. You don't have joke cracking privileges. If I'm a ghost, you're a ghost."

That got him another snort, Keith ducking his head to mask his grin.

They sat in silence for awhile after that, both looking out on the sunset. Out of the corner of his eye, he chanced a glance at Keith, wondering how he hadn't put two and two together before. Sure, he had only seen photographs of Shiro's foster brother maybe once or twice, but the resemblance was striking.

Of course it was. They were the same person.

He thought about that sullen, withdrawn kid he had seen in photographs, and the way Shiro had spoken so fondly about him. There had been pain in his eyes, and he gripped the frame a bit too tight when he held it, but he always kept the worst of it hidden away, where nobody could see it.

Maybe he was just a foster kid that his family had taken in, but it was clear that Keith meant a lot to him. Like a real brother.

He wondered if Keith felt the same.

No, he had to. Which was the root of the problem.

"You're not going to ask?"

Keith's words startled him, and with a jerk, he realized that he was looking straight at him. In the fading daylight, his eyes began to glow, dim now, but they soon would be bright. He wondered if Shiro- if _anyone_ \- ever suspected that Keith was anything other than human. From the sound of it, even _Keith_ hadn't.

Now it was obvious, but just from looking at the kid in the photograph, he never would have been able to tell. His eyes had been striking, but Matt had just chalked that up to a trick of the light. Nobody could have purple eyes.

Except he guessed maybe they could.

Or _had_.

Pidge had told him that Keith's physiology had been altered by Zarkon's witch, of all people. He had heard many tales of Haggar, and he was just grateful that he had escaped her notice. Her druids had been bad enough, poking and prodding at his brain for anything that he might have known.

They were trying to see if he knew anything about the blue lion, he realized now.

He couldn't imagine what it would be like, to earn their personal attention. He didn't envy Keith for it, that much was for sure. Didn't pity him either- _sympathize_ , sure- but he'd been a foster kid. He'd probably had enough of pity.

"Just waiting for the right timing." Matt told him.

"Oh." Keith frowned. "I think you missed it."

"Yeah, not the greatest at that." Matt admitted.

Keith simply let out a low hum, turning his attention back towards the sunset. "Me neither. I'm... awkward. Guess being raised out in the desert didn't do me too many favors."

"Hey, that's cool." Matt told him. "I think that's true for all of us. Even Allura, sort of."

Keith cracked a smile at that, this time not ducking his head to hide it. "Yeah, well Allura's a bona fide alien, and I grew up being passed around in the foster system. What's _your_ excuse?"

"Just natural talent." Matt joked. "I- Shiro talked about you sometimes, you know."

"Yeah?" Keith asked- and maybe Matt wasn't the greatest at reading those eyes, but he was pretty sure he'd picked up a glimmer of _hope_ in them. If he had any doubt that Shiro was half as important to Keith as Keith was to him, it was gone now. "And it still took you this long to figure it out?"

Ouch. Going straight for the critical hit. Yep, that was Keith.

"Hey, in my defense, what are the odds, right?" Matt asked. Like. Really. What was this, some kind of two for one deal? "I mean, _both_ siblings being abducted by the Galra Empire? Come on, what is this, bargain bin destiny hour?"

Keith just looked at him blankly. "What does that even _mean_?"

"I will admit, that made more sense in my head." Matt said, but did not let that deter him. "But seriously. I'm starting to think the Galaxy Garrison is just jinxed. That's like, two ace pilots now."

"I think calling me an _ace pilot_ is a bit of a stretch." Keith told. "I wasn't even there long."

"You do realize that nobody's broken your records yet, right?" Matt asked- based on the way Keith's brows arched at that, skepticism in his features, he was going to guess not. "At least, nobody had when I was still a cadet, which wasn't even that long ago."

"Bet it feels like it." Keith observed.

He didn't have to ask what he meant. He knew.

"...yeah, kinda." Matt frowned. There was no need to deny it. If anyone could understand, it'd be Keith. "But hey- we're trying to talk about _you_ here, not me. Stop trying to change the subject."

Judging from the click of his tongue, he'd called it right. Normally, he would pretend to be hurt about him only caring in order to distract from the conversation at hand, but not only was that A- not true- Keith definitely cared, it was also B- another distraction.

"So," clearing his throat, Matt decided to just come out and say it, "-Shiro talked about you sometimes."

"You said that already."

Shooting him a look, Keith merely shrugged his shoulders. "What I mean is- he- Shiro that is, he never forgot about you."

Closing his eyes, Keith gave him a weak smile. "Thanks."

"Nope, not done yet." Matt told him, causing Keith to blink, looking back at him. "He never forgot about you- and he never gave up on you either."

Keith stared at him, as if he couldn't quite comprehend what he was saying. "What do you...?"

"He never accepted it." Matt told him. "You being dead."

_"I told him once that I'd never give up on him. I don't intend to."_

"He never...?" Keith's voice barely came out as a whisper, turning his head away. Concealing his expression with his bangs, his shoulders tensed, claws digging into the fabric of his pants. "...why?"

"Why?" Matt asked. "Isn't that obvious?"

Keith merely shook his head, not looking up at him, as if he was worried his expression would betray him. He didn't have the heart to tell him that his body language totally gave it away.

"Because he was your older brother." Matt told him. "If Katie was the one in my situation, I would have torn apart the entire universe looking for her. That's just how we do things."

"I was just a foster kid." Keith whispered, something in his voice cracking, as if part of him desperately wanted to believe what he was saying, but he just couldn't _let_ himself. "Just some charity case."

It was a side to Keith that he hadn't seen before, but had always sensed. It was always present, just under the surface- the way he never defended himself, the way he just accepted the suspicious glances and the not so hushed whispers. At first, he thought it was just because he was half-Galra, but now he sensed that it was coming from a deeper place.

Older.

Keith... he hadn't had a family for a long time, had he? Not a real one.

He'd had Shiro, once. And then he had been taken from him. Thrown into space, where he'd been told that half of his heritage came from a race that everyone thought were monsters.

_He'd_ thought the Galra were monsters, before he had met some of the half-Galra who worked with the resistance. That experience had given him a better understanding, reminding him of something he had nearly forgotten- that outside of shitty fantasy novels, there was no such thing as a purely evil race.

Keith? Keith probably couldn't even look at himself without thinking that. Which was absurd- sure, Keith was crazy as shit, but a monster? _Evil_? Nah. Not a chance. The most he'd ever hurt were his feelings- and probably scores of sentries.

But he was pretty sure that even the Galra Empire wasn't so fucked up they'd program their sentries to feel pain. And also, his feelings were delicate. Hurting them was easy. Pidge did it every day of her life, delivering devastating blows to him even back when the only language she knew was baby talk.

"Not to Shiro." Matt said. "To Shiro, you were family. Still are family."

"I'm _Galra_." Keith told him. "Same as those who took him. Who took _you_."

"So?" Matt asked, shrugging his shoulders. "Hasn't bothered me yet, don't plan to let it start now. I'm sure Shiro would feel the same way, if he saw you now. The only thing that's changed is that you look a little more like it."

"That's not the-!" Keith blurted out, finally facing him- and just as quickly ducking his head back away, jolting to his feet so abruptly it nearly gave him whiplash. "You make it sound like it's simple. _Nothing_ about this is simple."

"Hey," Matt said, holding up his hands, "-listen, I'm not trying to undermine anything you might be feeling. Not going there. I mean- it can't be easy, right?"

How could it? Knowing that you had Galra blood and having to see it every day were two very different things.

Letting out a humorless snort, Keith clenched and unclenched his fists, claws pressing into the fabric of his gloves. "Try waking up and seeing the face of the enemy in your mirror everyday."

"...yeah, that sounds like it sucks." Matt admitted. "But you're _not_ the enemy, Keith."

"Doesn't matter." Keith told him, his words curt, clipped. "Everyone else thinks so."

"Yeah, well everyone else sucks." Matt told him, rising to his feet- with a bit more care than Keith had. He didn't have that natural balance to ensure him that he wouldn't fall off the roof. "Besides, it's not everyone. Maybe you just haven't been meeting the right people."

"Maybe." Keith said shortly. "There some point to this?"

Heaving a sigh, wondering what he could do to stop Keith from being so _difficult_ , Matt scratched his head. "You're worried, right? About how Shiro would react."

Keith said nothing, didn't even look at him- but he knew he was right.

"He's not gonna hate you, Keith, I promise." Matt told him. "From the way he talked about you, I don't think he ever _could_ hate you."

"He only knew me for three years." Keith told him. "I've changed since then."

"He told me the first time he met you, you stole his car." And he wasn't going to lie, he was totally taking some satisfaction out of the way Keith jerked his head up, surprise visible in his features. "And now you literally make a living stealing from the Galra Empire. You didn't change, you just leveled up."

For a long moment, all Keith did was stare at him- before letting out a laugh, loud and sharp. Incredulous. "I can't believe Shiro told you that."

"You were twelve. You _stole a car_. That tends to leave an impression on people." Matt pointed.

"Okay," finally cracking a grin, Keith folded his arms in front of him, "-that's fair."

"So," Matt began, "-you maybe gonna try putting a little more faith into Shiro?"

Keith's smile faded, but didn't disappear completely. "I'll try."

It sounded sincere- if not a little strained.

"I'll take it." Matt told him. "Now c'mon. Pidge bought cake for some reason when she went into town to get food. If we don't get down there soon, she'll inhale the whole thing herself."

"As long as it's not shitty grocery store cake."

"Keith!" Taking offense to that, Matt let out a gasp. "Katie would never! She's a lady of _class_. She sprung for a proper bakery cake, I'll have you know."

"Since when did the Garrison town have a _bakery_?" Keith asked, arching a brow.

"That's what _I_ said!" Matt told him. "It's a conspiracy, I'm telling you."

Keith snorted- a genuine laugh. "That's a stupid conspiracy. Think of something better."

"I don't want to hear that from the guy who thinks _Mothman_ is real." Matt shot back. "I'm not gonna judge you for being half-Galra, but I will judge you for your shitty taste in cryptids."

"Hey, Mothman is a perfectly good cryptid." Keith retorted, narrowing his eyes.

"Mothman's literally just a fucking _owl_ , Keith, c'mon." Matt told him. "Now _Bigfoot_. That's a good cryptid."

"Yeah, for an _infant_." Keith said, leaping down from the roof with the kind of grace that he couldn't help but envy. Glancing back up at him, he could have sworn that he _smirked_. "Bigfoot is like, baby's first cryptid. Next thing you're going to tell me is that the Loch Ness Monster is real."

"Okay, that one I am not going to let go!" Matt told him, getting down from the roof with considerable more care. He did not break out of alien prison just to die from falling off a roof. "Nessie is real, and she's my friend."

"Aren't you too old for imaginary friends?" Keith cracked.

"Wow Keith," Matt told him, placing his hands over his heart, "-I went up on that roof to support you, and I'm feeling very attacked right now."

Finding his father was still a priority, Matt thought- but so was finding Shiro. Because the faster he did, the faster he could prove to Keith that what he was saying was true.

Shiro wouldn't hate him.

He would never.

_Never_.


	18. blue lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey there Blue," Lance grinned, "-you miss me, buddy?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can y'all believe that season seven comes out like, at the end of next week? And it's going to be like, thirteen episodes if what I've heard is right? I don't know if I'm going to be ready for it, but I am excited! I hope season 7 brings us lots of Romelle and Krolia, and that nobody dies, except for maybe Sendak. Sendak can die. He's allowed. Permission granted.

"Just remember to breathe."

"Lance."

"You can do this."

" _Lance_."

"This is your destiny."

" _Lance!_ " Snapping his eyes open, he totally didn't let out a faint yelp, no sir, not him. "We haven't even breeched the Garrison's perimeter yet."

"Oh uh," Blinking, he cleared his throat, putting on a show of straightening his back, like Keith hadn't just spooked him, "-right, yeah. I know that. Just, you know. Image training."

"You've already connected with the blue lion. Why would you need to image train?" Keith asked, his tone nearly as dry as the desert air. Judging from the way he was leaning against the large rock they were using for cover, arms folded in front of him, he must have kept him waiting for awhile.

He was right, though- they hadn't breeched the Garrison's perimeter yet. Nope, right now they were hiding behind a giant rock, getting ready to breech the Garrison's perimeter. Pidge and Allura were in the green lion, monitoring the situation from there. They had gone over the plan like, _three times_ back at the shack, so he wasn't about to forget it anytime soon.

Pidge would cut the alarms, Hunk would trip the mechanisms for the lockdown drill, while Matt and Keith snuck him into the Garrison proper, getting him to where the blue lion was being kept. From there, Pidge would hack into the systems that controlled the retractable roof- and apparently, the retractable floor, since the blue lion was being hidden under a false room or something, and then _boom!_

He'd take the blue lion- and Matt and Keith- and fly right out of there. Follow the green lion to the rendezvous point, and they'd be home free. Easy peasy.

Still didn't make him any less nervous.

"Hey, cut me some slack here." Lance said, glowering at him. "I'm about to break into the Galaxy Garrison, and steal an alien spaceship. I'm nervous!"

Keith merely rolled his eyes at that. "It's _just_ the Galaxy Garrison. It's not like it's hard."

"Oh yeah?" Lance asked, stepping inside his personal space, glowering at him. "What have _you_ stolen lately, huh?"

Arching a brow, Keith _smirked_. Actually, honest to god, _smirked_. Seriously, who did this guy think he was? "Where do you want me to start?"

"Where do you- what does that even _mean_?" Lance asked.

"Keith's a space pirate." Matt supplied- and Lance jerked his head around, wondering if he was hearing him right. "Remember how Pidge mentioned they were basically on Zarkon's most wanted list? That's why."

"Wha- you're a _space pirate_!?" Lance blurted out, turning his head back towards Keith so fast, he nearly gave himself whiplash. "Space pirates are _real!?_ "

What the hell!? That was so cool!

But _this_ guy? _Cool_? With that jacket, and those gloves? Not to mention his _hair_ \- un-uh, nope, no way, no how! Couldn't be right.

Keith just shrugged. "I've been known to steal a few things from the Galra Empire."

"Keith, you stole the red lion _from_ Zarkon." Matt pointed out. "Pidge showed me how much GAC the two of you have stockpiled. You could buy an entire planet for that kind of money."

"Okay, first of all," Lance cut in, "-you can buy a _planet_?"

"If you know the right people." Keith said. "And I wouldn't say a planet. More like a small moon."

"Right, I don't even want to know if you know the right people or not." Lance began- and hell, he probably did, since apparently, he was a _space pirate_. "Also, what's GAC?"

"Galra Authorized Currency." Keith told him, like that somehow explained everything. "Besides, it's not like I do it alone. Pidge helps. She's the brains of the operation."

"Wha- _Pidge's_ a space pirate too?" Lance blurted out, turning on his heel to look back at Matt. "Your sister's a space pirate? But she's so tiny!"

"You know," Pidge's voice cut in, "-I _can_ hear you."

And this time he would admit to yelping.

"Hey Pidge," Matt grinned, tapping the device wedged into his ear. Before they had left, she had given them each one, including one for Hunk. "-good to hear you. Guess you got our coms up and running?"

"Just in time, too." Pidge remarked. "What's this about me being tiny, Lance?"

"Nothing." Lance quickly said. "Nothing at all. You're a perfectly good height for your age."

"Smooth." Keith observed- and proceeded to totally ignore the glare that Lance shot in his direction. Seriously, what was this guy's deal?

"Yep, I'm with Keith on this one." Pidge said. "Smooth."

Letting out a loud grumble, Lance just hung his head. "Okay, fine. We've got the com line working, I'm in position with Matt and Keith, and I'm pretty sure Hunk is back at the Garrison-"

"Ten four, good buddy." Hunk's voice chimed in.

"-right, Hunk's back, so can we _maybe_ just get this started already?" Lance finished.

"Not unless you want to trip alarms left and right, we can't." Pidge told him. "And there we go. Alarm system disabled. All their cameras feeds are now on a loop."

"Great, thanks sis." Matt grinned. "Hunk? How you coming on that lockdown mechanism?"

"Going to take just a bit longer." Hunk's voice crackled over the coms, sounding a bit apologetic. "So just sit tight. It should- okay, right, there we go. Lockdown drill initiated. Or well, it will be, in like five minutes or so. Yeah. Don't go until then, maybe."

He could faintly hear the sounds of the drill from here. It was bound to alert the Garrison, but odds were, they'd probably pass it off as a glitch or a prank of some kind.

"We got you buddy." Lance told him. "Thanks, Hunk."

They had already said their farewells- Hunk had embraced him for a long time, and cried for nearly just as long. It had been in front of Allura, which had been kind of embarrassing, but hey- Hunk was his friend, and if he needed to bawl his eyes out in front of a space princess to make himself feel better, who was he to stop him?

"Anytime, buddy." Hunk told him. "You need me for anything else, you know what channel I'm on."

"Will do." Lance promised. "See you on the flip side."

"Come on," Keith's tone was curt, "-we should get ready."

Nodding his head, Lance took in and let out a deep breath. He'd borrowed one of those gauze medical masks from the infirmary before they'd left- it wasn't much of a disguise, but he was kind of doing this on short notice. It wasn't like he just had a cool mask like Matt's, just lying around- and besides, Keith's bandanna basically served the same function, so as far as he was concerned, he was doing great.

Why _Keith_ needed to hide his face, he had no fucking clue.

If anything, it just emphasized those glowing eyes of his. Which yeah- they were _totally_ glowing. _Super_ freaky.

At least it gave him, like, crazy night vision or something. Because the dude could _move_ in the dark.

"Alright," Matt spoke, his voice sounding distorted through his mask, "-we're heading in."

And holy heck, these two were fast. Letting out a faint yelp, Lance scrambled to keep up with the pair of them, keeping one hand on his hood to make sure it didn't just fly down. They had found a weak point in the Garrison's perimeter wall that they would use to bust in, and from there, they would take the shortest possible route to where the blue lion was.

"Okay," Pidge's voice crackled over the coms, "-I have visuals on you. Looking good, Matt."

"What, just Matt?" Keith cracked.

"Shush, I've seen you in action like, a million times before." Pidge told him. "This is the first time I've gotten to see Matt do his thing. I'm supporting him, like a good sister."

"Aw, Pidge, that's so sweet of you." Matt said, like this wasn't some kind of super serious operation where they could all get _shot_.

Guess fighting a space empire gave you a different sense of what was dangerous.

Letting out a snort, Keith just shook his head. "Yeah? What's the catch?"

"...I ate his share of cake." Pidge admitted.

"...wow Pidge. That's cold." Matt said. "I take it back, you are a horrible sister. Still love you, though."

"Uh, guys?" Hunk's voice piped up, "-no offense, but can we maybe like, focus? Your small talk is making me nervous, and the only thing I'm doing is hiding in the broom closest."

"Wha- why are you hiding in the broom closest?" Lance asked.

"Small. Dark. Cozy." Hunk told him. "You know. Brooms."

"You couldn't make it back to the room in time before the lockdown drill started, could you?" Lance asked.

"Nope." Hunk told him. "So uh, yeah, if you need me, I'm here. In the broom closest. Just saying."

" _Now_ who's making small talk?" Keith quipped.

Letting out a snort, Matt crouched in front of a door. "Okay Pidge, we're at the entry point. Get us in."

"One second." Pidge said- and a moment later, the door lock flashed green. "Okay, you're in. You have a clean shot from here to where the blue lion is held."

"Got it." With a curt nod of his head, Keith cracked open the door. One hand hovering on the hilt of his knife, he peered in, confirming the hallway was empty, before he opened the door, letting both him and Matt slip in before him, before he followed, shutting the door behind them.

"Alright Pidge, we're in." Matt told her.

"Uploading area map to your mask now." Pidge told him.

"Got it." Matt said. "Keith, bring up the rear. I'll guide us through."

Huh. Made him feel like he had bodyguards. Now that he could get used to.

Making their way down the corridor, they kept their steps quiet. This section of the building wasn't used much, and it was currently after hours. Pretty much all non-essential personnel would have gone home for the evening, which was why they had picked now to make their move.

It involved breaking curfew, but eh- not like he would be here for much longer.

Holding up a hand, Matt stopped them short. Watching as his hand darted into his cape, he pulled something out- and not a second later, a pair of guards came around the corner. Patrol.

Matt took the pair of them out quick, extending a staff that he didn't even know he had. Watching as Keith dragged the unconscious bodies into the next room, shutting them in there, in the back of his mind, Lance couldn't help but wonder just one thing.

"Seriously?" He hissed, keeping his voice low. "First a knife, and now a _staff_? I thought you guys came from _space_! Where's all the cool laser guns?"

"Uh, I'll have you know my staff is very cool." Matt protested. "Besides, we can't just go around shooting people."

He didn't even know how Matt knew that Keith had even opened his mouth, what with the bandanna, but he must have, because he cut him off.

" _Or_ stabbing them."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn that Keith was sulking. Guess half of him was from some kind of evil alien race bent on universal domination after all, if the thought of not being able to stab people upset him that much.

Which, by the way, _still_ a weird choice for a paladin.

Not that he'd say it to his face. Keith scared him.

...not that he'd say that to his face either. Too much pride.

"...okay, fair point." Lance admitted.

Because it was, damn it. But listen- when he got up to space, there had _better_ be some laser guns, or he was just going to be very disappointed.

Still, this place was like a maze. It was a good thing they had those schematics Pidge had downloaded, or they would have gotten lost for sure by now. The good news was that they didn't run into any other patrols- the bad news was that it made the whole thing kind of boring.

Where was the excitement? The thrills? This was a _heist_ , damnit, shouldn't there be like, heart-pounding action or something? There should at least be a-

...wait.

"...did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Matt asked, glancing behind him. "I didn't hear anything. Keith?"

Shaking his head, Keith peered down at him. Great, now he was going to make fun of him for hearing things.

"What did you hear?"

...or not. Huh. Maybe he'd had the guy pegged wrong.

"I- I don't know." Lance told him, before frowning, his brows knitting together. "It's- it's like some kind of rumble, in the back of my head. I think... I think it's _purring_?"

"Good," Keith said, "-means we're on the right track."

"Uh, it does?" Lance frowned. "Okay then. Guess you're the expert."

"That's Allura." Keith noted.

"Yeah, where _is_ Allura anyways?" Lance asked. "I haven't heard her on the coms like, at all."

"I am here." Allura's voice chimed in, causing him to start- but thankfully, he avoided yelping. "I am on the same line as Pidge. At any rate, Keith is right- the blue lion is likely calling you."

"Calling me, huh?" Lance asked- and now it was _his_ turn to smirk- take that, mister space pirate. "Sounds pretty good to me."

He was damn sure Keith just rolled his eyes. How did he even _do_ that without pupils?

"Allura's right." Pidge came back on the line. "From the look of the schematics I pulled, you're close. The bad news is, there's guards standing watch in front of the door, and it's a straight shot down the hall to them. There's no way they won't see you coming. If they call for backup, you could have trouble on your hands."

"So we'll just have to be fast." Keith cut in. "I can do that."

"Keith-" Matt began.

"No stabbing. I know." Keith said. "I have _fists_ , Matt."

And for all that he said that, he proceeded to promptly _not_ use said fists. Instead, he kneed the first guard in the gut, and then took out the second with a literal boot to the face.

Though _man_ \- he wasn't kidding about the _fast_ part.

"Neutralized the guards." Keith reported.

"Are they still alive?" Pidge asked.

"Yes." Keith said, a bit too quick.

_Definitely_ a bit too quick, because he then proceeded to kneel down in front of them, and check their vitals. Glancing back towards Matt, he gave him a silent thumbs up.

Matt returned it.

How were these guys the defenders of the universe again?

"Wait, wait," Hunk interjected, "-was Keith killing the guards like, an option?"

" _No_." Keith replied.

Even as Pidge responded, "-yes."

"Doesn't look like I can give you guys access from my end." Pidge added, getting back to the topic at hand. "Matt, you'll have to get into the system yourself."

"No problem." Matt said, pulling down his mask, leaving it to hang around his neck. "I've got this. Just give me one second and... we're in."

Getting to his feet, Matt put his mask back on just in time for the doors to slide open. It looked like whatever research team they had working on the blue lion, it had gone home for the night.

And there it was.

Racing into the room without a second thought, Lance's mouth hung open. It was somehow even more impressive seeing it for the second time, now that he knew what it was. That weird force field thing that had surrounded it when he'd first found it was back, and from the look of things, the Garrison wasn't having much luck in getting through.

He could, though.

"Hey there Blue," Lance grinned, "-you miss me, buddy?"

In response, the force field around the blue lion dissipated, and he had to fight the urge to bounce on his heels. Oh man, that was so cool. It had been cool the first time, but now that he knew this was like, a destiny thing, it was even _cooler_.

When the blue lion lowered itself, revealing a ramp- _oh man_. This time he did let himself bounce- but just like, a little. He didn't want to look _lame_.

"Well boys," turning back towards Matt and Keith with a grin, "-looks like our ride is here."

"Let me guess," Keith deadpanned, yanking off his bandanna, "-you've been waiting to say that line all night."

"Uh, all day, actually." Lance corrected.

"Uh, guys?" Pidge butted in- and oh no. That was a bad news voice if he'd ever heard one. "Bad news." Yep, he knew it. "Somebody found the guards you knocked out earlier."

_And_ cue the alarms.

"And I think that's our cue to leave." Matt said.

It felt like they barely had a chance to get into the blue lion, before pursuit caught up to them. Seriously, how did those guys even get here so fast? He knew he had been complaining just before about a lack of thrills, but he hadn't been _serious_!

"Any time you want to take off." Keith noted.

"I can't take off, there's still a roof in the way!" Lance interjected. "Pidge?"

"...I've got some more bad news."

Oh no.

"I can't get into the system that retracts the roof." Pidge told him. "It looks like it's all internal. I'm locked out."

"Wait, so you're saying if we want to get out of here, someone has to go to that room, and retract the roof manually?" Lance asked. "Because that sounds like what you're saying."

"I'm guessing that's a problem." Pidge noted.

"Uh, yeah, kinda?" Lance said, peering out of the cockpit. "Because we're kind of like, surrounded by angry Garrison guards. With guns."

"I could-"

He didn't expect _Hunk_ , of all people, to cut Keith off, but guess that was what was happening today. "Is there something I can do to help?"

"I- yeah." Pidge said, only the slightest note of hesitation to her voice. "If you can get to the control room, you can retract the roof there. I can get you there without having you run into any guards, there's a direct route to it through the ventilation system, but there's no way you'll be able to take it back."

"Hunk," Lance began, sensing what his friend was thinking, "-buddy. You don't have to do this."

"Nope, I'm doing this." Hunk said. "Pidge, send me that path. Lance, buddy, hang on just a little longer, I'm coming."

"You won't be able to go back to the Garrison." Keith spoke up. "I can get to the control room just as easy."

"Uh, Lance mentioned something about _guns_ , so no, no you can't." Hunk pointed out. "Pidge, how long will it take me to get there?"

"Maybe three minutes, calculating for the drop time." Pidge supplied.

"Wait, what do you mean, _drop time_?"

Hunk's question was answered by the sound of a loud scream coming from his end of the com- followed by a loud thunk, followed by a groan.

And one very faint _ow_.

"Are you alright, Hunk?" Allura spoke up.

"Yep, yep, I'm fine." Hunk told her. "Okay Pidge. I'm in. Where's this control panel?"

"Uh, according to the schematics, it should be in the center of the room." Pidge supplied.

"Right, yep, I see it." Hunk said. "Hang tight Lance."

"Hanging tight, buddy." Lance said.

"Oh man," Matt whispered, peering out the cockpit, "-there's Iverson. And he does not look happy."

That was an understatement. Because yes, that was Iverson, and yes, he had a loudspeaker, demanding that they step out of the lion, and give themselves up. Which uh, no thanks. Not with all the armed guards. With guns. Pointed at _them_.

Yep, he'd just stay in here, thank you very much.

"You know those won't be able to pierce the blue lion's armor, right?" Keith asked, as if picking up on his nerves. What, could he smell them or something?

"Knowing that and being able to take comfort in it are like, two different things, okay?" Lance said. "We can't all have nerves of steel."

"-and there we go."

Hunk's voice was like an angel's song piercing through the heavens, as the roof above them began to retract. Shoulders slumping, he took, like half a second to relax, before he gripped the controls tight- and promptly realized he had no idea how to fly this thing.

Thankfully, the blue lion picked up the slack.

He didn't know how, but it was like... it was like it was feeding images into his brain. Letting out a long breath, he did as he was shown, launching the blue lion, readying to meet Pidge and Allura at the rendezvous point.

But first things first.

Hunk wasn't hard to find- the control room that retracted the roof was like, right on his way out. Opening up the lion's jaws, he brought it as close to the building as he could, allowing Hunk to scramble out a window and into the lion.

By the time he got into the cockpit, he looked like he was about ready to collapse.

"Just for the record," Hunk said, "-I'm never doing that again."

* * *

It didn't even take them an hour to reach the rendezvous point. Considering that it was in an entirely different state, that was saying something.

He also hadn't expected it to be a lake house.

He was dealing with _aliens_ here, okay? He'd thought they'd have like some kind of super secret base, but no- what they had was a shack out in the desert, and a lake house. A very _charming_ lake house, but still.

A lake house.

One owned by Pidge and Matt's mother. Who, as it turned out, was a very nice lady, so he had to wonder just how it was her daughter had turned out to be such a little spitfire.

Not that they'd be here for much longer. They had only stopped here to regroup, and to give Pidge and Matt a chance to say their goodbyes. He tried not to feel too bitter about it, how they got to say goodbye to their mother, when he couldn't do the same, but he fought it back.

It sounded like their father was still being held by the Galra Empire so like, how jealous could he possibly be? At least he knew where all of his family was.

Besides, Mrs. Holt had promised to send the letters that he and Hunk had written, Hunk scrambling to write his at the last minute. He wasn't sure if his mother would believe anything that was in his letter, but hey- it was better than him just dropping off the face of the Earth, right?

Speaking of Hunk.

He'd made a hell of a choice, in the spur of the moment, no less. For someone who wasn't usually known for taking risks, it caught him by surprise.

Maybe it shouldn't have. Hunk had always come through for him in the clutch in the past, so why would this time be any different?

"So," Lance began, "-you're really going through with this, huh?

"I mean, I guess?" Hunk frowned, looking back at him. "It's not like I can go back to the Garrison. I mean, I guess I _could_ go home, but I'm pretty sure they'd like, follow me there, and somehow I don't think I'm exactly cut out for living life on the run."

Letting out a faint snort, Lance couldn't help but agree.

"Trust me, I'll be glad to have you along, Hunk." Lance told him. "I think Pidge and Matt have started to go a little local. I mean- what the heck even is a _varga_?"

"Oh man, that reminds me, we're going to have to like, learn space lingo, aren't we?" Hunk asked. "Oh man. What if they don't speak English? I mean, Allura and Keith speak English, but what if the rest-"

"Oh come on, Hunk, they're like aliens." Lance told him. "They probably have some kind of cool universal translator or something."

"Hm, good point." Hunk frowned- pausing for a moment to mutter under his breath, doubtlessly something to do with the specs of a prospective translator. Frankly, Lance didn't understand like, _any_ of it, so he just sort of tuned it out. "So, guess you're a paladin now, huh?"

"Yeah," looking up at the blue lion, Lance didn't fight the urge to beam, "-guess I am."

"Pretty cool." Hunk told him, elbowing him lightly, beaming with pride for the sake of his friend- even if there was still no small amount of worry in the corner of his eyes. "You think maybe they'll need like, a cook? Or a spare engineer?"

Patting Hunk on the shoulder, Lance grinned at him. "Trust me, I'm sure we can find you something to do."

"Good, because I'd hate to just be a freeloader." Hunk said. "As long as I don't have to like, storm a bunch of imperial bases or something, I'm good. I mean- probably? Probably. It's space man, I don't know what to expect!"

Yeah, neither did he.

"Nervous?" Lance asked, and god, did that sound like a stupid question now that he'd actually said it out loud. Of course Hunk was nervous! Who wouldn't be?

"Yup." Hunk admitted, right away. "Very. What about you?"

To anyone else, he would just lie, brush off the nerves he was feeling. But this was Hunk, and Hunk was his best friend, and he had been dragged into this because of him, so hey- the least he could do was be honest with him. "Nervous enough to barf."

"Yep, I know how that feels." Hunk said, nodding his head. "...I guess I should uh, apologize to the blue lion for that, huh?"

"It's okay, Blue understands." Lance assured him. "Don't you, Blue?"

...huh. Maybe it was for the best that he was the only one who could understand her. He'd just... not mention that response to Hunk.

Didn't help that clean up duty had been assigned to him. _You're his friend, you do it_ , Keith had told him, before shoving a roll of paper towels into his hands.

And okay- _maybe_ his piloting hadn't been the best. But listen- he'd never flown a giant mechanical cat before! Or like, anything that wasn't a simulator for that matter. There was a learning curve here!

And he'd got here in one piece, right? So there- definitely _not_ the worst pilot ever, Keith could just suck it. Besides, he hadn't even seen him pilot anything yet- who knew, maybe the guy actually sucked?

Yeah, he bet that was it. He was all talk, had to be. After all, what were the odds there could be _two_ prodigy pilots named Keith?

* * *

"Shouldn't we be finishing getting ready?"

He had been in the kitchen, helping Allura pack up supplies, when Pidge had all but cornered him. She allowed for no arguments- just grabbed him by the wrist and told him to come with her. He could have sworn there had been a conspiratorial glint in Allura's eyes, but maybe he had just been imagining things.

"We'll have plenty of time for that once we get done with this." Pidge assured him.

Frowning, Keith let her drag him along. He could break free if he really wanted to, but whatever Pidge wanted to show him, he assumed it had to be important.

When she just lead him into the yard, where the blue and green lions had landed, he just grew perplexed. "...you wanted to show me the green lion?"

"No dummy," Pidge told him, rolling her eyes, "-I want to show you what's _in_ the green lion."

Tilting his head, Keith's frown deepened. Pidge didn't relinquish her grip on his wrist, so he just let her drag him inside the lion, and down to its cargo hold. The green lion had about as much space inside of it as the red lion did- the blue lion, on the other hand, was just a bit larger than the both of them.

Two arms and a leg.

Any thoughts of Voltron were put aside, however, when he saw just what it was that Pidge had brought him here for. "Is that-?"

His father's hoverbike.

"Yup." Pidge said, nodding her head. "What, did you really think we'd just leave it there? After all the effort you put into restoring it?"

"But I didn't-"

"I know you didn't." Pidge said, folding her arms. "Allura told me how excited you were when you got it working." And in spite of himself, he could feel his cheeks heating up at that. "There was no way I could leave it behind. Not when it's important to you."

"Besides," she said with a small shrug, "-it could come in handy."

Opening and closing his mouth, Keith honestly couldn't think of anything to say. He wanted to thank her, but at the same time, he wanted to insist that she didn't have to do this for him. So instead of saying anything, he brushed past her, running a hand over the frame of the bike.

He thought he'd have to leave it behind. Sure, he'd got it working again, but that was just because- because _why_ , exactly? Some part of him that wanted to try and reconnect with his father? To maybe get a handle on just what it was he could have been thinking, when he decided to fall in love with a Galra?

When they chose to have a child together.

_If_ they even chose- for all he knew, he could have been a big surprise.

"You know," Pidge piped up, "-generally when someone does something nice for someone, they tend to thank them."

There was no malice in those words, no sense of her not feeling appreciated. It was her way of telling him that she'd chosen to do this, so yes, it was very necessary.

He still remembered the first time Shiro bought him something just because he'd wanted it. It hadn't been anything important, or even expensive- hell, he could barely remember what it was now. It didn't matter, though- what mattered was that he didn't know how to react, so floored by the fact that he'd done it without a second thought, with no expectation of getting anything in return.

It was just a simple gesture of kindness, but that kind of thing had been absent from his life for so long. What kindness he got was rooted from pity, or a desire to look good- a kind of tainted, self serving kindness. At least the people who had been cruel had been _honest_.

But Shiro wasn't like that.

Neither was Pidge.

Nor her mother, or her brother.

There had been no kindness in Central Command.

Almost none. He still didn't know what that officer's objectives had been when he'd freed him, but he hadn't needed to give him back his mother's knife. That, he sensed, had been a kindness, whatever other objectives he might have had.

He'd gone without it for so long, that honestly, kindness terrified him. He didn't know how to respond to it, didn't feel like he deserved it.

But if he was the narrator of his own story, then he was an unreliable one. The idea that he deserved to be loved- he still couldn't believe it, but... if there were people out there who were willing to do so even when he had a hard time liking himself, then the least he could do was give them some credit.

Or well, try.

Emphasis on _try_.

_Huge_ emphasis on try.

"Yeah," turning on his heel to look at her, Keith gave her a smile, "-thanks, Pidge."

For a moment, she looked dumbfounded- and briefly, he had to wonder just what kind of face he was making, fighting the urge to touch the corners of his mouth to find out. She quickly recovered, shaking it off. "Hey, that's what friends are for, right?"

"And don't just thank me," she added, "-Allura helped get it onboard. Honestly, that's part of why she was so quiet for most of the heist."

Now _that_ took him by surprise. He was still under the impression that she didn't like him all that much, not that he'd blame her. "Allura did?"

"I mean, you took the key with you." Pidge told him. "And I didn't want to hot wire it and risk frying something- the last thing I wanted to do was undo all your hard work. So yeah, Allura helped."

"Huh," Keith blinked, "-guess I do owe her a thanks."

Maybe he'd been wrong about her too.

...maybe he'd been wrong about a lot of things.

Shaking it off, Keith pushed all such thoughts inside. He'd think about them later. Maybe. "We should finish getting ready. I don't think the Garrison has any ships that can actually catch up with the lions, but the less time we give them to prepare, the better."

"And then we can find the yellow lion!" Pidge grinned.

"And your father." Keith added.

And Shiro.


	19. yellow paladin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance didn't even hesitate. Pulling on the white and blue armor, he beamed, white teeth flashing against his skin, striking a pose he was pretty sure he thought was heroic. "Well? Is this a good look for me or what?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter nineteen! Right into the yellow lion arc, hot off the heels of the blue lion arc. This one is going to be very fun to write, I've got some great things planned that I cannot wait to tell- plus, we'll finally get to see Shiro this arc! He's coming! Boy oh boy is he ever coming.

So.

He was in space.

That was a thing.

Not only was he in space, but they were blitzing through it at record speeds. They'd just passed Mars, and it had barely even been a minute since they'd left Earth. At this rate, they'd get to Jupiter like, right now.

He hadn't expected the princess herself to join them, but maybe he should have. It wasn't like either he or Lance really knew where they were going, and flying to another planet wasn't exactly like flying to another state. If they got lost, it wasn't like they could just get out and ask for directions.

...okay, so they wouldn't be able to get out and ask for directions while flying the blue lion either, not unless they touched down at the nearest airport. But somehow, he had a feeling that probably wouldn't go over so well.

"There," pointing out the cockpit's window, Allura practically beamed, "-that is where we are headed. The Castle of Lions."

Whoa.

Okay, so he wasn't sure what he was expecting, but this- this beat just about anything that he could imagine. And he was saying that while they were all flying in a giant mechanical lion, so yeah, he could imagine quite a bit.

"You'll need to land there." Allura instructed Lance. "In the blue lion's hangar. After ten thousand years away, it could probably use a bit of a charge."

"Honestly, I'm just amazed this thing is like, ten thousand years old." Hunk told her. "You said your father built these?"

Turning back to look at him, Allura gave him a small smile. "In a sense."

...okay, that was vague.

"The lions are... complex." Allura told him. "My father used to say that they practically engineered themselves. Given the time, I would be more than happy to tell you both the full story, but as it is, I am afraid that we do not have as much of that as I would wish right now."

"You said there's like, one more lion out there, right?" Lance asked, sparing Allura a glance.

Nodding her head, Allura frowned. "We know where the yellow lion is, but I am afraid that getting it is not going to be anywhere near as simple getting the blue lion was."

And that didn't sound good.

Also if having a bunch of guards pointing guns at them was considered _simple_ , he wasn't sure he wanted to know what the princess' idea of _complex_ was.

"Well whatever it is you need to do, you can count on the blue lion for support." Lance told her. "After we have it, we can form this Voltron thing, right?"

"I am afraid it is not that simple." Allura told him. "Even if we do find the yellow lion, without a paladin, we will not be able to use it. And without the yellow lion, we have no way of waking the black lion."

"Which I'm guessing you don't have a paladin for either." Hunk finished.

"No, I am afraid not." Allura confessed. "But even without a paladin at hand, it is imperative that we keep the yellow lion out of Zarkon's hands. We cannot allow him to capture another lion."

"Wait- _another_?" Lance asked. "I thought you said you had all the lions but the yellow lion."

"Presently, yes, we do." Allura told him. "But before it fell into Keith's hands, the red lion was in Zarkon's possession."

"Oh yeah, Matt did mention something about Keith stealing it from him." Lance frowned. "So like- what's Keith's deal, anyways? How does someone who's part Galra end up fighting _against_ the Galra?"

Yeah, he'd been wondering about that too.

Like- once he got past the whole _alien_ thing, Keith seemed like a pretty alright dude. A bit on the temperamental side, but hey, there were humans like that too, so who was he to judge? But Lance was right- he _was_ Galra, or at least, part of him was, so how exactly _did_ he end up fighting against them?

Allura merely frowned at that. "I am afraid you will have to ask Keith that. All I know is that he was a captive of Zarkon's up until around a year ago, when he escaped with the red lion."

For some reason he got the distinct feeling the princess was leaving something out there, but maybe she just wasn't comfortable talking about the guy behind his back. Which... yeah, that was fair.

"I'm guessing he's not a big fan of this _Emperor Zarkon_ then, if he was held captive by him." Lance observed.

"No, not in the least." Allura told him. "That you _can_ trust."

Frowning, Hunk couldn't help but pick up on a slight undercurrent there- it almost sounded like the princess _didn't_ trust Keith. But that couldn't be right, right? I mean- she wouldn't have picked him as a paladin if she didn't trust him, right?

Except, based off what he knew, choosing a paladin didn't seem to work that way.

But no, that didn't make sense either. If the lions chose their own paladin, which was _still_ weird by the way, why would the red lion pick someone that couldn't be trusted? Maybe... maybe the princess was just apprehensive.

Or maybe he was just overthinking things.

Again.

It was a bad habit of his, he'd admit.

"Well, I'll just take your word for it." Lance told her. "So... which hangar was it that I needed to land in again?"

Heaving a slight sigh, Allura indicated which one she meant with her hand. "That one there. It is located inside the spire closest to us. Coran will have opened the hangar door, so you should have no trouble getting in."

"Right, got it." Lance said. "So... we headed back to Altea after this? What's the plan?"

Lance had his head turned, so he probably didn't see what he saw- the look of vivid pain that flashed over the princess' face, for just a second. The way her hands gripped the back of the pilot's seat just a bit too tight. "As much as I would love that," she said, "-I am afraid that simply is not possible."

Oh.

Something- something bad had happened to Altea, hadn't it?

"How come?" Lance asked. "Did the Galra take it over?"

"I nearly wish that _were_ the case." Allura told him. "But I am afraid that it is worse than that. Altea is simply no more."

There was a gravity to her words that nearly sucked the air right out of his lungs. She didn't even need to explain the full story- it wasn't hard to guess that her planet probably hadn't died a natural death. In fact, he'd be willing to bet anything that it had been destroyed by this Galra Empire, which was...

...yeah, that was terrifying to think about.

If the Galra were capable of destroying planets, what was to stop them from destroying _Earth_? Keith had been right- the faster they got the blue lion off the planet, the better. Maybe this way, Earth would _stay_ off the Galra Empire's radar.

He couldn't even imagine what losing your whole planet was like. Everything you knew, _everyone_ you knew... just _gone_. He didn't know how long it had been, but based on the way she talked about it, he'd say the pain was still fresh.

"That... that's terrible." Hunk said, feeling foolish even as he said it. It wasn't like it wasn't true, it _was_ terrible, but it just... it didn't feel like _enough_.

"Yes," closing her eyes, he watched as Allura composed herself, steel taking grief's place when she opened her eyes next, "-it is. Which is why it is so important that we do not allow another planet to suffer the same fate as Altea."

On that point, he agreed.

* * *

Once they got back to the Castle of Lions, things happened in a rush.

Allura had nearly blitzed through introducing Hunk and Lance to Coran, eager to get the castle-ship moving again. They had spent far too long on Earth, and with the yellow lion in such a vulnerable position, it was clear that she wanted to make arrangements to obtain it at once.

Which was fair, but she wasn't exactly the biggest fan of being hassled.

Besides, the yellow lion was safe- for now. Te-Osh had promised to inform them the second anything changed, and since they hadn't heard anything from her, likely nothing had.

It was resolved that they would return to Arus for the time being- the Galra Empire had no presence there, so it made sense to use the planet as their base of operations. Thanks to Allura's ability to create wormholes, getting there was no issue.

And she had to admit- watching Lance and Hunk react to that? Priceless.

"Wait, so," Lance began, "-we just what, jumped like several galaxies away?"

"Oh, I'd say it's more than just several." Coran told them. "In fact, I'd say we're pretty much on the opposite end of the universe right now."

"You're telling me we just jumped to the other side of the universe in an instant?" Hunk asked. "How does that even work?"

"Oh well, it's quite simple, really!" Coran told him, one hand stroking his mustache. "You see, the teleduv lenses-"

"As much as I hate to interrupt," Allura cut in, "-but I cannot exactly land the Castle on my own. Coran, if you could?"

"Ah, another time then." Coran said, looking only mildly disappointed at being cut off. "Coming, princess!"

"Looks like this system is still free of any Galra presence." Matt chimed in, before letting his gaze drift. "I mean- except for Keith, that is."

Keith to his credit, merely arched a brow. "What, can't get your own jokes?"

"Uh, I'm stealing them, you know, like a proper space pirate?" Matt pointed out.

"Space pirates don't steal jokes." Keith told him- though she didn't miss the hint of a grin on his face. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Pidge and I are retired now."

"I mean, we _did_ just steal the blue lion, so I wouldn't say we're retired just yet." Pidge cut in. "Besides, we both know that stealing from the Galra is like, a compulsion for you."

Rolling his eyes, Keith shot her a look. "It's not a _compulsion_. They stole four years of my life from me. I'm just paying them back a little, that's all."

"Sound logic." Matt said. "Or it would be, if you didn't have a criminal record before this."

"I don't have a-!" Keith opened his mouth to protest, before firmly slamming it shut. "...maybe a small one."

Arching a brow, Pidge glanced over towards her brother. From the sound of it, he knew something she didn't- in which case, he _really_ needed to spill.

"Wait, what do you mean, _before_?"

Oh right. Lance and Hunk were here now.

Coran and the princess mostly seemed content to ignore their conversation. Allura hadn't exactly expressed a lot of interest in Keith's personal life, which was fine by him.

"Nothing you need to know, Lance." Keith told him, watching him with narrowed eyes.

Ah. So it wasn't just _Allura_ he intended to keep out of the loop. She... couldn't say that she didn't expect this, given how he'd reacted to being asked what his non-Galra half was back on Earth, but still- did he really think he could keep it a secret?

No offense to Keith, but she'd figured that he was at least part human out pretty quick. He didn't exactly do much to hide it, and when Allura had confronted him about it, he'd simply admitted it.

So why the sudden need for secrecy?

Actually wait, hold on a second- if Keith had been a cadet at the Garrison once...

Okay. She saw where this was going now.

He was afraid they'd make the connection. Which was fair- but it just seemed like to her that the greater lengths to which he went to hide it, the more obvious it would become that he was, in fact, hiding something. Better to just act natural, that way they didn't suspect that he had anything more to hide.

"Keith," Allura, who apparently _had_ actually been listening with half an ear, merely glanced in his direction. "-I know the matter of your heritage is not an easy one for you to speak of, but if we are to work together as a team, we need to at least have _some_ measure of openness between us."

For a long moment, Keith merely held her gaze- before he let out a defeated sigh, his shoulders slumping. "Fine."

Satisfied with that, Allura fixed her attention back on landing the castle-ship.

Turning back towards Lance and Hunk, Keith watched them for a long moment, tight frown set on his lips. After about a minute, it was clear that the two cadets were starting to become uncomfortable- they didn't know Keith like she did, couldn't tell that all he was trying to do was sort his thoughts, and think of the best way to tell them the truth.

Underneath that cool, mysterious badass exterior, he was just painfully awkward.

"I'm-"

"Keith's half human."

Catching Keith's eye, she merely gave him a shrug. Look, if she left it up to him, this could take all day. Best to just get it out and over with.

"Wait," Lance began, looking between her, then Keith, and then back to her again, "-he's human? You're _human_?"

" _Half_ human." Keith corrected. "It's not a big deal."

"Wait so," Hunk began, "-is that- is that what the Galra came to Earth for?"

"The first time." Keith replied. "I don't know much about it."

Lance and Hunk exchanged a glance, like they were debating whether to believe that or not. She felt her brow furrow- sure, Keith didn't like talking about himself, but that didn't mean he wasn't honest where he could be. He actually kind of _stunk_ at lying, impressive, considering he was a space pirate and all.

If he said he didn't know what his mother was doing on Earth, then she believed him.

Did that mean he didn't have theories? Probably. But she was willing to believe he didn't know for sure.

Besides, this was _Keith's mom_. Galra or not, she couldn't picture her as being bad.

"So uh," Lance began, "-is Keith like, your real name, then?"

"No, it's Yorak." Keith told them, rolling his eyes. "Yes, it's my real name. You got a problem with that?"

"I mean, it's just not very _alien_." Hunk told him. "Which I guess, since you're half human is fine, I mean, I guess your human parent named you? Was- was it your mother? Your father? How human are you?"

"My father." Keith told him, words clipped. "Half."

"So how did your parents-"

"Like I said, _I don't know_." Keith cut Lance off, shooting him a glare. "It doesn't matter."

"Paladins," Allura cut them off, putting a halt to any further questions, likely on purpose, "-we have landed."

So they had. Glancing over towards Keith, she couldn't help but notice that he looked grateful for the change of focus. He caught her eye, frowning at her- he looked a bit miffed, but eh, he'd get over it. She knew him well enough to know that.

"Matt," Allura said, "-do you suppose you could contact Te-Osh? We may need her help in getting the yellow lion."

"Not a problem." Matt assured her. "I'll see what I can do."

Nodding her head, Allura turned her focus on Lance and Hunk next. "While Matt is doing that, Coran will show you to where you will be staying while you are here."

"Are you sure you won't need us?" Lance asked.

"In time, yes." Allura told him. "But it will take some time to form a solid plan, so in the meantime, you should take the chance to familiarize yourselves with the Castle of Lions."

Glancing over at Hunk, Lance merely shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds good to me."

"If you don't need me for anything, princess," Keith cut in, "-I'm going to check on the red lion."

Ah, so he was in a bad mood. She couldn't say that she was surprised, exactly.

"Yes, of course." Allura said- and judging from her frown, it looked like she wasn't the only one to pick up on Keith's mood. "Pidge, you are also free to do as you wish. I will stay here on the bridge, and try to work things out with Matt and Te-Osh."

"Fine with me." Pidge said with a shrug. "I was hoping to get some repairs done on our ship anyways. It took a bit of a beating during the fight with Sendak."

Sure, they didn't really _need_ it now, but hey- she'd gotten a bit attached to the old girl. It had held up through more close calls than she cared to count. Best to make sure she was in prime condition, just in case.

If there was one thing that being a space pirate had taught her, it was that it was best to take advantage of downtime when you had it.

* * *

With nearly everyone gone from the bridge, Allura allowed herself a moment to sigh.

She nearly thought Matt too busy to notice, but no sooner than had she done so, did he look up from his work. Something about putting the transponder code directly into the castle-ship's system, so that he could contact Te-Osh whenever he wanted.

"Everything okay, princess?"

Turning back towards him, she gave him a small smile, if not one that was a bit on the weary side. "Yes, just a bit tired, that's all."

"You can sit down, if you want." Matt told her. He set up camp at the green paladin's chair- not that she was about to tell him to move. He was, after all, the green paladin's brother, so he had just as much right to it as she did, in that sense. "It might take me a little longer to finish this."

"Thank you, but I will be fine." Allura assured him. "If anything, I am just concerned about the success of our mission."

_Our_ mission.

Perhaps that was a bit presumptuous of her. Yes, he was the older brother of the green paladin, but that did not mean he would be around forever. He had a family back on Earth, and once he found his father, she couldn't imagine any reason why he would choose to stay.

Not when Earth had been so blessedly peaceful.

It had almost made her heart ache, but at the same time, she was grateful to see a pocket of the universe that still remained safe. Waking to learn that the Galra Empire had conquered so much of it was like living in a nightmare, so if there were people out there who were still spared of it, she could only be happy for them.

She could only hope that it would remain so.

"Getting the yellow lion, you mean?" Matt asked.

"Well yes, that," Allura began, "-but also the bigger mission, of reforming Voltron."

"I'm guessing you can't do that without all five paladins." Matt observed.

"I am afraid not." Allura told him. "And I am afraid that when it comes to finding paladins, I am all out of ideas."

It was truly a conundrum. Finding the blue paladin on the same planet as the blue lion was a stroke of luck, but not one that she expected to repeat itself. She could use the Castle to determine the location of the lions, but the same could not be said of their paladins.

If only it were that simple.

But she had already known that reforming Voltron would be no easy task. Even if she managed to find paladins for all the lions, there was no telling if they would be able to work together or not. Already she'd seen signs of strife between Keith and Lance, and if she didn't figure out some way to deal with that, then forming Voltron might truly be impossible.

She knew having a Galra on the team would complicate things. It was not as if she _blamed_ Keith for it, but if she was being realistic- then yes, it did.

She was starting to understand that though he was Galra, there was more to him than that. His strange quintessence was still troubling her- she could only hope that it wouldn't cause any problems in the future.

She didn't know what she would do if it got in the way of forming Voltron.

"What about Hunk?" Matt asked.

Blinking, Allura felt her brow furrow. "What about Hunk?"

"What if he's the yellow paladin?" Matt asked. "I mean- the yellow lion is the other leg, right? You said something about Pidge and Keith being drawn together by destiny, so maybe the legs were too?"

Frowning, Allura considered it. "I suppose you could be on to something. I believe Lance said something about the two of them being childhood friends."

It wasn't quite the same dramatic destiny that had drawn the arms of Voltron together, but one could say that it was still a destiny in and of itself. That Hunk had ended up in space with them... perhaps she should not be so quick to dismiss it as a coincidence.

"Maybe you could test him, like you did with Pidge?" Matt asked.

It took her a moment to determine what he was referring to. When she had connected with the red lion, she had done so in order to find the other lions- an attempt which had ultimately failed, leading her instead to the green paladin. Still, it had not been her intention to test Pidge- it had simply ended up that way.

Besides, she didn't think that would work, not this time. Yes, Hunk had flown in the blue lion, but it had only been rather briefly. Pidge, in comparison, had spent _half a year_ flying alongside Keith in the red lion, during which time it had been able to familiarize itself with her.

Still...

"Perhaps there _is_ a way." Allura mused. "Matt, I believe our transmission to Te-Osh will have to wait, for at least a little while longer."

"Got an idea?" Matt asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

* * *

"Paladins," Allura's voice came over the intercom, nearly giving him a start, "-I apologize for the short notice, but I need you all to gather in the armory."

"Well that didn't take long." Lance couldn't help but remark, brows furrowed in mild confusion. "I literally just put my bag down."

At least he _had_ a bag to put down, some part of Hunk couldn't help but think. But hey- coming here had been his choice, he couldn't fault anyone else for it. Pidge's mom had tried to help him back, it wasn't her fault that they didn't have any clothes lying around that would really fit him.

Maybe there was like... a space department store or something?

"Yeah, I thought we were going to have a longer break?" Hunk frowned. Granted, he'd been known to get things wrong, but he was _pretty sure_ that this was supposed to be longer than it was. "Also, if she's asking for paladins, does she need me too? And also, where's the armory?"

Lance just blinked, staring at him blankly. "You're asking me?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Hunk gave him a helpless expression. "I mean, Coran just left, so-"

Frowning, Lance stuck his head outside of his room. "Coran!"

"Coming, Lance!" Coran's voice piped up from around the corner, and sure enough, not a second later, there was the man himself. "Right, the armory, yes?"

"Uh, yeah." Lance said. "Why do you think the princess wants us all of a sudden?"

"Oh, likely to give you your bayards, if she's calling you to the armory!" Coran remarked. "Not to mention your armor. Not sure about the timing though. Could be that it just didn't cross her mind until now."

"Bayards?" Hunk asked. "Also armor? Being a paladin requires armor?"

"Well of course!" Coran said. "How else do you expect to survive in space if you suddenly get ejected from your lion?"

"Wait so, it's like a spacesuit?" Lance asked- which okay, yeah, that made way more sense than what he was picturing. He didn't understand why they wouldn't just _call_ it that, but hey- maybe- maybe it was like, a space thing. "Also, what's a bayard?"

Frowning, Coran merely arched a brow. "Hm. I take it Allura didn't have much time to brief the two of you on paladin matters."

"Yeah, you could say that." Lance said.

"Technically, I'm not a paladin, so..." Hunk trailed off.

"No matter!" Coran assured him. "I'm sure the princess won't mind if you tag along."

Exchanging a glance with Lance, he just shrugged his shoulders. That seemed to settle the matter, and in short order, Coran had guided them to the armory. He noticed with a slight wince that they were the last two there- everyone else was already waiting.

Including Keith.

He hoped it was just the bags under his eyes that made it look that way, and Keith wasn't actually half as grumpy as he seemed. As if sensing it, Keith caught his gaze, and Hunk felt himself flinch as he narrowed his eyes.

Yep, definitely grumpy.

Maybe pressing him with all those questions hadn't been such a good idea.

Giving him a nervous smile, he made a mental note to apologize later, before hurriedly fixing his gaze on Allura instead. At least she looked happy to see them, though he could have sworn that she locked eyes with him for like, half a second.

Was he- was he not supposed to be here after all?

Maybe he was just overthinking things. After all, Matt was here too, and so far as he knew, he wasn't a paladin either, so maybe Coran was right, and the princess didn't mind him being here. Maybe she just hadn't expected to see him. Yeah- yeah, that had to be it.

"Thought you said you needed us, princess." Keith's tone was curt, _irritated_ , even.

Briefly frowning at his tone, Allura otherwise seemed to pay it no mind. Maybe she was just used to it.

"I was simply waiting until you were all here." Allura told him, nodding her head in their direction. "Now that you are, I can present to you your suits of armor."

That's when he finally noticed them.

Honestly, he didn't know how he'd missed them before. Ranging in a half circle behind the princess were five glass cases, in which several suits of armor were contained. They were definitely a far cry from what he'd pictured when Coran had said armor, which was probably a good thing, since he didn't think a clunky metal suit would like, be very helpful for surviving in space.

Even Keith looked properly impressed.

"Go on," the princess said, giving them an encouraging nod, "-try them on."

Lance didn't even hesitate. Pulling on the white and blue armor, he beamed, white teeth flashing against his skin, striking a pose he was pretty sure he thought was heroic. "Well? Is this a good look for me or what?"

"Or what." Keith supplied.

"Nobody asked _you_ , Keith." Lance snapped, narrowing his eyes. "I don't see you putting yours on."

It was true. He hadn't even budged. He was right where he was before, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. Even _Pidge_ was trying hers on.

(Amazingly enough, it fit.)

"I don't like changing in front of people." Keith told him. "I'll try it on later."

Clearing her throat, Allura interjected before Lance got the chance to say anything back. "There _is_ one more thing I would like to show you all."

He watched as the princess pressed her hand against a panel, giving way to reveal what had to be the bayards Coran mentioned within. Huh- that was weird, though. There were five suits of armor, but only four bayards- where was the black one?

Maybe the leader got something different?

The black lion was the leader, right? He hadn't heard that wrong, had he? I mean, it was supposed to be the head, so... that sounded like leader to him.

"The bayard," Allura began, "-is the traditional weapon of the paladins of Voltron. It takes on a distinct shape for each paladin."

He watched with awe as the blue and green bayards floated up, drifting towards their respective paladins. The remaining two, red and yellow, stayed where they were. Noticing it, Allura frowned, before picking up the red bayard herself, actively handing it to Keith.

"Let me guess," Lance said, "-it's because _someone_ isn't wearing their armor."

"Like I said, I don't like changing in front of people." Keith hissed.

"And there is nothing wrong with that." Allura said simply, pressing the red bayard into Keith's hand before he so much as had a chance to refuse. "The bayard reacts to the paladin, not the armor."

Frowning, Keith took the bayard from her, turning it over in his hands. Eyes darting up, he watched as Pidge and Lance took theirs, causing Hunk to shift his gaze as well.

Which- whoa, yeah, glad he did.

Pidge's bayard didn't change much, what looked like a glowing blade fixing itself to it. Lance's, on the other hand, changed into some kind of rifle, the newly minted blue paladin letting out a _whoop_ at the sight of it, wasting no time in posing with it.

Okay- yeah, he'd admit it. That was cool.

Turning his head, Hunk frowned. Keith's was the only one that hadn't changed, and it was clear from the expression on his face that he was getting frustrated.

Allura noticed it too.

"Keith?" She asked. "Is something the matter?"

"I don't know." Keith admitted. "It's not working."

"What did you do, break it?" Lance asked.

"I didn't break it." Keith hissed, baring his teeth, glittering sharp against his skin. "It's just not working."

"Strange." Allura frowned. "Might I see it?"

Wordlessly, Keith thrust the red bayard back towards her. Taking it in her hands, Allura turned it over, studying it with a curious expression. "I do not see anything wrong with it, but it has been ten thousand years since it was last used. Perhaps it needs a bit of repair. Coran?"

"Yes, princess?" Coran asked, looking up.

"Do you think you could have a look at this for me?" Allura asked.

"I'm afraid not, princess." Coran told her. "Your father made those bayards. I'm afraid I don't understand a thing about them."

"It's fine." Keith said. "I can just use my knife."

Huh. If he didn't know any better, there was some kind of underlying tension beneath this whole conversation. Was it that bad if Keith couldn't use his bayard?

"Perhaps try it again, when you do decide to try on your armor." Allura told him, passing the red bayard back to Keith, who took it with no small amount of hesitation. "But if it still does not work after that, be sure to let me know."

Giving her a curt nod of his head, Keith wordlessly clipped the bayard to his belt, apparently choosing to ignore it for the time being. Eyes darting up, he seemed to catch him staring, causing him to look away with a jerk.

Just in time to see Pidge electrocute Lance.

"Yeah," Pidge said with a grin that could only be described as wicked, "-it _is_ pretty cute."

Holding up a hand from where he had collapsed on a floor, Lance just gave her a thumbs up. "Yep, okay. I admit it, I should have seen that coming."

Thankful for the distraction, Hunk trotted over, extending a hand to Lance. He gratefully took it, using it to haul himself to his feet, shaking off the last traces of electric shock. "Man, that thing packs a punch!"

"I wonder if I can adjust the voltage." Pidge observed. "I've built my fair share of stun guns, so I know that the sentries that the Galra Empire use short out once you hit a certain frequency. And since Lance is still standing, I'm guessing that wasn't it."

"Wha-" Lance opened his mouth, "-you shocked me with that thing without knowing what voltage it was at?!"

Pidge simply smirked. "Space pirate."

"Also you've been making fun of her partner in crime like, this entire time." Hunk added.

"Wha- Hunk, whose side are you on?" Lance asked, sounding betrayed.

"I'm on the side that involves not getting shocked." Hunk said, not missing the way Pidge preened out of the corner of his eye. "Because in case you haven't noticed, I do not have a cool suit of armor to protect me."

"Actually, about that, Hunk," Allura began, catching his attention, "-I was wondering if you could maybe try something for me?"

Turning back to look at her, he frowned. "Uh, that depends. Does it involve me getting shocked?"

"No shocks involved, I promise." Allura told him, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Do you think you could try the yellow bayard for me?"

And there was that record scratch sound again.

"Uh, you mean the bayard that's for the yellow paladin?" Hunk asked.

"Is there another one?" Allura inquired, the question sounding so innocent.

"No, I just uh-" Hunk frowned, shifting on his feet, "-I mean, I guess?"

"Wonderful!" Allura exclaimed, scooping it up from where it lay, before thrusting it at him.

Staring down at it, Hunk's brows furrowed. If he didn't know any better, he'd say the princess was expecting it to react to him. But like- there was no way that was right, right? I mean, the yellow bayard was for the _yellow paladin_ , and that wasn't him- heck, he wasn't even a _pilot_.

Chewing on his lip, he took the bayard with some hesitation. Maybe she just wanted to test it? Maybe since Keith's was apparently broken, she was worried this one might be too?

No sooner than had he taken it, did it flash, causing him to let out a yelp as its weight nearly doubled. Grunting, he stared down at his hands, feeling no small amount of shock to notice that the tiny bayard had somehow changed shape into what could only be described as some kind of a cannon, heavy in his hands.

Allura looked _thrilled_.

Hunk just felt his stomach drop.

_Oh no._

"Hunk," Allura told him, "-you are the yellow paladin."

Yep, that was exactly what he didn't want to hear.


	20. restless night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out, being told that it was your destiny to basically save the universe was not conducive to a good night's sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter twenty! The big 2-0! Also, I meant to bring it up last chapter, but I forgot so I'll just go ahead and mention it now. If you've ever wanted to picture just how perpetually exhausted this Keith looks, look no further than season 7, episode 6 bc that's it. That's how exhausted he looks 24/7. Canon is really out here giving me, personally, gifts.
> 
> With that said, until next time~!

The first thing he did was drop the yellow bayard. The second he let go of it, it transformed back, clattering uselessly against the floor.

The second thing he did? _Protest_.

"Nope." Hunk said. "Nun-uh. No way."

Him? The yellow paladin? No way that was right. He wasn't even a pilot! He ran _away_ from fights, not _towards_ them!

No. This had to be a mistake. Had to be. There was no other explanation.

"You activated the yellow bayard." Allura pointed out, her brow set in a slight furrow, as if she hadn't expected him to protest. "Therefore yes, you are the yellow paladin."

"I- couldn't it just be broken?" Hunk ventured. "I mean, Keith's is broken, what if the yellow bayard is just like... broken in reverse?"

"I don't think it works like that." Keith observed, lips set in a tight line.

"Yes, what Keith said is correct." Allura told him, only briefly sparing him a glance. "The only reason the yellow bayard would activate for someone that is _not_ the yellow lion's paladin was if the yellow lion's paladin wished it."

Oh no. He didn't like the sound of that. Not one bit. But maybe-

"Well, maybe that's it." Hunk suggested. "Maybe _you're_ the yellow lion's paladin."

"As much as I wish that were true," Allura frowned, "-I am afraid it is not the case."

Oh.

Wow, uh. The princess really sounded kind of bummed about that, didn't she?

Made sense. Her father had been the one to build the lions, so she like... probably wanted to be able to fly one herself. Her whole _planet_ was gone because of the Galra, she had like, more reason than anyone to want to be involved in this fight.

"But I'm not even a _pilot_." Hunk protested. "I don't know the first thing about flying!"

"Hey, don't sweat it, buddy." Lance chimed in, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I can teach you."

Which, thanks Lance, very touching offer, but also _no thanks_. Him? Fly one of these super powerful Voltron lions? Nope, no way, bad idea. _Definitely_ a bad idea.

Keith let out a snort, arching a brow. "You?"

"Uh, yes, _me_." Lance stated, glowering over towards the red paladin. "What's so funny about that?"

"You nearly put a dent in the blue lion's hangar just trying to land." Keith pointed out. "I think you need to work on your _own_ piloting before you can teach anyone else."

"Hey, I fly just fine!" Lance protested. "Besides, I haven't seen you fly your lion, mister hotshot! For all we know, you suck."

Titling his head, something glittered in Keith's eyes. Whatever it was, he had a bad feeling about it. "Is that a challenge?"

"You _bet_ it's a challenge!" Lance exclaimed.

Oh boy. This was not going to end well. Worries about his paladin status momentarily forgotten, he glanced nervously over towards Allura. "Uh, don't you think we should, you know... stop them?"

To her credit, the princess briefly considered it, before shaking her head. "It... would be a good chance for Lance to get in some practice. We will need all the lions we currently possess if we hope to claim the yellow lion. The more experience he has in handling the blue lion, the better."

Oh. Right. He'd nearly forgotten about that.

They didn't actually _have_ the yellow lion.

No, the yellow lion was apparently on some Galra controlled planet, where they were mining for it as they spoke. Either that, or for ore. Either way, the situation was _not_ good.

"In that case," narrowing his eyes, Keith dropped his hands to his sides- and oh, that gleam in his eyes had been a competitive spark, he should have known, "-you're on."

Oh, right. Still had this problem to deal with. Would a break be like, too much to ask for? Glancing over towards Pidge, he felt himself groan. He got the feeling he wasn't going to get any help from there.

And if _she_ wasn't any help, he couldn't imagine her brother would be.

"Fine!" Lance said, locking eyes with Keith, who just returned his glower without so much as blinking. "We'll race. See who can get back to the Castle the fastest. Loser has to, uh-"

"-clean the bathroom?" Pidge _oh so helpfully_ supplied.

Yep, he was right. No help whatsoever.

"Yeah!" Lance took to the idea right away, which yeah, _probably_ was a mistake. A ship this size? Had to have a ton of bathrooms, he'd just like to point that out right now, for the record. "Loser has to clean the bathroom!"

"Fine by me." Keith said. "Hope you know how to clean."

"Well I hope _you_ know how to clean!" Lance shot back.

Part of him wanted to point out that maybe getting into a race with a half-alien that clearly had more experience flying his lion than he did probably wasn't the best of ideas. But he also knew Lance well enough that when he got this into something, talking him out of it was next to impossible.

Heck, he didn't even get the chance to _say_ anything to him before he stormed out of the armory, Keith following him at a more relaxed pace. Yep. Yep, this would not end well. Calling it now.

"Princess?" Coran piped up.

"Yes, Coran?" Allura frowned.

"...did you perhaps not mention to our new blue paladin that the red lion is the fastest of the lot?"

"...ah."

...yep. This _definitely_ wouldn't end well.

* * *

Turns out, being told that it was your destiny to basically save the universe was _not_ conducive to a good night's sleep.

After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, Hunk groaned, throwing off his covers. This _clearly_ wasn't working. Maybe a little midnight snack would help.

...except he had no idea where the kitchen was.

Between helping Lance clean the toilets and planning how they would get the yellow lion, there hadn't exactly been that much time to get a tour of the place. He still didn't know what to do with the idea that _he'd_ be involved with getting the yellow lion, much less play the most pivotal role in the whole plan, but frankly?

He was trying not to think too hard about it.

If he started doing that, he'd start thinking about all the things that could go wrong. And trust him, there were a lot.

...okay, so maybe he _had_ been thinking too hard about it.

But look, it was hard _not_ to, okay? Being in space was one thing, but he'd thought that he'd like... take on a support role or something! Maybe cook everyone up a delicious meal after a hard day's fight or help repair damage to the castle-ship. If Pidge and Matt could learn how all this alien tech worked, then he sure as heck could.

He didn't mind springing into action if it was within the safety of the Castle of Lions, which was like, a massive flying fortress, but _flying a lion_?

That would put him _right in the middle_ of everything.

He wasn't usually one to criticize destiny, but there _had_ to be some kind of a mistake.

But at the same time... if he really _was_ the paladin of the yellow lion, could he really just say no? Allura had presented it as an option, but like... they were already short one paladin. Who knew how long it would take her to find a replacement for him if he said no?

It wasn't like he expected this Zarkon to like, put his universal conquest on hold while Allura searched for a spare paladin. Even he understood that there were sometimes fights you couldn't run away from.

Maybe... maybe that's what this was. A fight he couldn't run away from.

Besides, what kind of person would he be if he did? To just... to just say no, like the fate of the universe didn't rest in his hands. Like there weren't innocent people out there right now, suffering because of the Galra Empire.

People like Allura, who had lost her whole planet, her entire people. Or people like Pidge, who had family that had been taken prisoner. People like Matt, who had _been_ prisoners.

It just- it didn't mean he had to _like it_ , okay? This was not what he'd signed up for when he'd decided to follow Lance into deep space, not by a long shot.

"...and now I'm pretty sure I'm lost."

Well, that was what he got for wandering around while lost in thought. He couldn't even retrace his steps because he didn't even remember which steps he had taken. Letting out a long sigh, he paused, having sworn he'd just heard something.

Slowly creeping forward, Hunk turned the corner, peering down the hall. Nope, he wasn't imagining things- he was _definitely_ hearing something. It sounded like... grunting? Growling, maybe?

Oh man, he hoped this ship wasn't haunted.

Chewing on his lip, he briefly considered maybe just like... going back the way he came. It- it had to be someone on the ship, right? Someone couldn't have just... _broken in_ , right?

Ugh. All this trouble for a midnight snack.

Keeping his steps as quiet as possible, Hunk crept forward. The noises seemed to be coming from the room just up ahead, which was starting to seem a little familiar. It wasn't until he poked his head around the corner, peering in the doorway, that he realized why.

Oh, this was the armory.

"Come on," the person who was making the noise spoke, letting out a disgruntled grunt, "-why won't you _work_?"

Oh.

Oh, it was Keith.

Letting out a sigh of relief, grateful to see that it wasn't an intruder, he flinched. All of a sudden, a pair of glowing golden eyes were staring right at him. Had- had Keith heard that?

Maybe- maybe he couldn't see him in the dark?

"...hunk?"

Or maybe he could.

Coming out of hiding, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Keith stared him down, the white and red paladin armor he was wearing doing nothing to cut down on the intensity of his gaze. "Yeah, hi. Uh, didn't mean to spy on you, was actually just trying to find where the kitchen was."

"Three floors down from us." Keith informed him. "Why are you even still awake?"

"Just... you know, thought I'd get a little midnight snack." Hunk told him, shuffling on his feet. "You uh... you trying on your armor?"

At like, the space equivalent of one in the morning. Come to think of it, what was Keith even doing up at this hour?

"...yeah, something like that." Keith told him.

"Hey, that's cool." Hunk said, holding up his hands. "Maybe I should try on mine too. Since, you know, I'm here, and I didn't exactly get a chance to earlier."

Keith frowned. "I thought you didn't want to be a paladin?"

"I mean... no, not really." Hunk confessed. "That's like, the _last_ thing I want. But I guess if that's what I am, maybe I just have to like... I don't know, grin and bear it?"

"Guess so." Keith agreed.

"Though personally, if you ask me," Hunk added, "-I'm pretty sure that destiny like, made some kind of mistake. I'm not exactly paladin material."

Letting out a faint snort, Keith stared down at his bayard. "...guess that makes two of us."

Opening his mouth to protest, he quickly shut it. Keith? Not paladin material? No way. He was like, the best pilot he'd ever seen- which, no offence to Lance, he just had to call it like he saw it. If _he_ wasn't paladin material, he didn't know who _was_.

...except he kind of got the feeling that this wasn't what this was about.

...was this about him being Galra, maybe? Or well, _part_ Galra. Or maybe it had something to do with his bayard not working. He didn't really know, there was just so much he didn't know about Keith. Which was like, to be expected, seeing as they'd basically just met, but _still_ -

Closing his eyes, Keith lowered his bayard. "I should get some sleep."

"Oh uh- yeah." Hunk stammered, before recalling what Keith had said earlier that day. "I can leave, you know, if you want to change. You said the kitchen's three floors down, right?"

"Yeah, can't miss it." Keith told him.

Nodding his head, Hunk gave him a faint smile. He kinda... wanted to say something to him, to maybe reassure him that he _totally_ was paladin material, but again, they didn't really even _know_ each other. He didn't even know where to begin. Heck, the only things he knew about Keith was the fact that he was part Galra, part-

...part human.

...wait.

Could he...?

Nah, no way. Maybe he'd never seen a picture of Keith Kogane, but it wasn't like they could be the same guy. He didn't exactly _blend in_.

"Thanks." Hunk told him. "So uh... goodnight?"

"Yeah," Keith gave him a strained smile, "-see you in the morning."

* * *

Once he was sure Hunk was gone, he let himself exhale. Going to bed had been a lie, but at least it had got Hunk off his back.

Setting down the red bayard, Keith pulled off his helmet, shaking out his hair. He was just grateful that it was _Hunk_ who'd caught him. He'd rather not deal with Lance, and anyone else...

...they'd just ask too many questions.

Hunk didn't, for which he was grateful. Even if he _had_ looked like he wanted to say something. Guess that was another one for club awkward.

He actually managed a laugh at that, pulling the chest armor over his head. He'd expected it to be something the armor Galran foot soldiers wore, but the paladin armor turned out to be nothing like that.

It fit him like he'd been born to wear it. He... didn't know how to feel about that.

Frowning, he glanced towards the red bayard, picking it back up as he set down the chest plate. Brows knitting together, he closed his eyes, trying to focus his energy. Maybe if he just...

...nothing.

Heaving a sigh, he opened his eyes, fighting the urge to just chuck the thing. _Broken_ , he'd said. He knew damn well it wasn't broken.

If anything was broken, it was _him_.

 _Not broken_ , the red lion rumbled.

Letting out a bitter snort, he ignored his lion. Changing out of the paladin armor, he quickly dressed himself, hand pausing for a moment, hovering over his heart.

Before he drew it away, tugging his shirt over his head. Pulling on his jacket, he paused, glancing back behind him, at the red bayard. Was there even any point in bothering to take it with him?

It wasn't like he could get it to work.

He'd been hoping that Allura was right- that maybe all he needed to do was try it in his paladin armor. That was what he'd been doing, before Hunk had walked in- not that it had worked.

He should have known it was pointless.

Heaving a sigh, Keith picked the red bayard back up, wordlessly clipping it back on his belt. Maybe... maybe it just needed time to adapt. He knew how weird his own quintessence was, and unlike the lions, the bayard wasn't sentient.

Maybe this was just another consequence of Haggar's experimentation. As if there weren't enough of those already.

Or maybe he just wasn't meant to be the red paladin.

He grimaced at the thought. "C'mon Kogane," he mumbled, "-you're trying to think positive, remember?"

Easier said than done. Even before his father died, he'd been the weird kid with no friends. Thinking positive just wasn't something he knew how to _do_.

He didn't even know where to _start_.

...not beating himself up for things that were outside of his control, maybe.

That sounded... reasonable, he guessed. But when so much of his life had been out of his control for so long, even _before_ he had been abducted by literal aliens and turned into some weird space witch's pet project, it was again- easier said than done.

But he could try. He said he'd try.

Everyone here was trying, in their own way.

Hunk was trying to accept being the yellow paladin, even though he was obviously afraid. Lance was just _trying_ \- okay, fine, so he was trying to learn how to fly the blue lion, all the sharp tongued comments in the world didn't change the fact that he actually did acknowledge that. Pidge and Matt were trying not to let the fact that they hadn't found their father yet get to them. Allura and Coran were trying to move past the loss of everything and everyone they knew.

He couldn't just throw up his hands in defeat after one day. He just... he just had to try a little longer, and then maybe something would come of it.

Hopefully something good, but he wasn't exactly-

...and this was why he was bad at being positive.

Heaving a sigh, he let out a low groan. This was why not being able to sleep sucked. What was he supposed to do for the next few hours other than wallow in his own internal monologue?

At least when he was in command of his own ship, he could just spend the night in the pilot's seat. Passing time at night on the Castle of Lions was proving to be a challenge.

Right.

Training deck it was.

* * *

"You really should be sleeping, princess."

Shoulders slumping, Allura looked over towards Coran. She wasn't even going to ask how he knew to find her here, nor even how he knew she was still awake- she had long since known that Coran had a good instinct for this sort of thing.

As goofy as he could be at times, she knew how deeply he cared for others.

"I know," Allura admitted, "-but I could not fall asleep."

"Can't say I blame you." Coran told her. "Tomorrow's a big day."

Nodding her head, Allura turned her gaze forward again. "Yes, it is."

Tomorrow. Tomorrow Te-Osh and a small group of borderland rebels would arrive. Together, they would launch an attack on the Galra forces embedded in the planet the yellow lion was located in. It would act as a diversion, while a small landing party escorted Hunk to the yellow lion.

She could only hope that her instincts were right, and that he truly was the yellow lion's paladin. Otherwise she would be putting him in danger for no reason at all.

And she couldn't live with herself if that were true.

But she knew it _had_ to be right- the yellow bayard had responded to him. That had to mean that he had been chosen by the yellow lion, much like Pidge had been chosen by the green lion, before she had even seen it.

Keith being unable to use his bayard concerned her too. She suspected it might have something to do with his quintessence, in which case, she had no idea how to go about fixing it. Especially not when she had no idea what the cause of it was.

She only hoped that it was not a sign of more complications to come.

"...but I don't think it's tomorrow that you're worried about."

Closing her eyes, she didn't even attempt to deny it. How could she?

Not when she was standing in front of where the black lion slept.

Tomorrow, they would obtain the yellow lion. With it, they would have a chance against the Galra Empire, against Zarkon. Not as good of one as they would have with Voltron, or even just the black lion, but they could not risk waking it, not when they did not yet have a paladin for it.

Not when Zarkon still believed it lost.

With only four active lions, they would never be able to form Voltron- but at least they would have _something_. Enough to give them a means to fight. And as long as they had that, then one day, she was certain they would locate a new black paladin.

Unless the black lion's bond with Zarkon was not broken, which was what she feared most of all.

"No, it is not." Allura admitted. "I just... I do not know what to do, Coran. I do not think the universe will simply hand me another paladin, as it has already. And I cannot think of a single means with which to go about finding them."

"Well, I don't see why not." Coran merely shrugged. "It's already given you four. Why not go for all five?"

Giving him a faint smile, Allura looked back towards. "I wish I could be so positive."

"Takes practice, you know." Coran observed, stroking his mustache. "And hard to do when you're lacking on sleep."

"Is that your way of telling me to rest?" Allura asked.

"Perhaps." Coran admitted. "All I know is that staying up and drowning in your worries isn't going to help. If you need it, I have a bit of nunvill you could-"

"No, that is quite alright, thank you." Allura cut him off. Perhaps it was a bit childish of her, but she'd never... quite developed a taste for the stuff.

"Ah well, suit yourself." Coran shrugged. "No sense sharing a drink with someone who doesn't enjoy it."

"Quite." Allura said. "But you are right- perhaps I _should_ try a bit harder to get some sleep. I will need to have all my wits about me if we are to prevail tomorrow."

"That's the spirit, princess!" Coran beamed.

She didn't know if she would actually be able to fall asleep, but at least she'd have higher odds of it were she actually in her bed. In lieu of a black paladin, she would have to take the lead. Which meant that she needed to set a good example- and that did not include wandering the halls late at night, in nothing but her nightgown.

...perhaps it was for the best that Coran was the one who found her after all.

* * *

"Have you been able to locate them?"

She always felt something tense inside her, whenever she had to deliver to him news that he would not like. But unlike those who would grovel at his feet, she would hold her head high, and accept whatever her failure received her.

She had remained in his favor for ten thousand years, a privilege afforded to few. She had no intentions of leaving it, regardless of those who wished her ill.

"I am afraid not, sire." Haggar said. "The Altean princess' proximity to the prototype makes it difficult to sense her exact location. Unless she expends the same amount of energy as she did before, I do not think I will be able to find her so easily."

Her lord said nothing, but she could tell from the way that his eyes narrowed that he was not pleased. "I trust that is not the extent of your ability."

"No, sire." Haggar told him, before daring to push her luck. "Perhaps I may not be able to find where they are, but I know where they will be. They seek the yellow lion."

"Go on."

"I suspect I know where it is." Haggar explained. "We may be able to use this to lure them into a trap. If it succeeds, not only will the red lion be returned to us, but the green and yellow lions will be ours as well."

"Good." Zarkon said. "Once it is done, bring the Altean princess to me. I wish to have some words with her in regards to the fate of the black lion."

"And the prototype?" Haggar inquired.

"Do with it as you wish." Zarkon told her. "I trust that the finished project is proceeding as planned."

"It is nearing completion." Haggar promised. "We will be ready for a test soon enough."

"See that it is."

With that said, Zarkon departed her presence. The sight of his retreating back always caused something deep within to sting, but she had long since stopped questioning its cause. It mattered not.

What mattered now was carrying out Emperor Zarkon's wishes- and she would not fail him. If it was the lions he desired, then she would do everything in her power to obtain them for him.

Within the fledgling paladins, there was a weakness- one that she would not hesitate to exploit. Turning on her heel, she glanced towards the nearest druid.

"Bring me the Champion."


	21. yellow lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It took him a second to realize that the static wasn't just in his head, but it was actually coming from their coms. It took him even longer to actually process what it was he was looking at here.
> 
> Because that was _Shiro_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Y'all wanted Shiro, didn't you? Well, wait no longer, because he is here. Boy howdy. Is he ever here. Also Te-Osh is back! Isn't that swell. Yup. Nothing bad at all happens in this chapter, that much is for sure. No sir, not this one, not by a long shot.

Never in all her years did she think she would gaze upon the Castle of Lions.

But then again, never in all her years did she think she would behold a lion of Voltron. And now she had seen _three_.

It was enough to give her a spark of hope, that things were finally changing. That destiny, at long last, was starting to move. It could not be soon enough- for if the resistance fell, then there would be nothing left standing in Zarkon's way.

But now there was Voltron.

"Te-Osh!"

Matt all but sprinted across the hangar, heedless of any decorum. While it was true she had come here to discuss a critical matter- the reclamation of the yellow lion- it did not mean that she wasn't happy to see the young rebel. He had done well- the results he had helped produce were more than worth taking a bit of heat from Flos.

Three active lions, four paladins, and the means with which to obtain another of the former. Hope indeed.

"Matt," she beamed, "-it is good to see you again. I trust you have been keeping well."

"I got to see mom, so yeah, I guess you could say that." Matt told her, grasping her arm. "So who'd you bring?"

"Two ships." Te-Osh reported. "Olia and Ozar's crews."

The best of the best. It was a risk, throwing them both into an operation like this- but if they were able to obtain the yellow lion, then they finally had the chance to turn the tide of this war, once and for all. And for that, she would do anything.

"I must thank you for your quick response," the Altean princess spoke, dressed not in the ornate gown that she had been found in, but rather, a spacesuit, Altean in design, "-if we are to claim the yellow lion, then your help will be sorely needed."

"We will always stand ready to help Voltron." Te-Osh told her. "Matt tells me that you have found both the green and blue lions."

"That we have." Allura beamed, stepping aside to reveal those waiting behind her. More humans, she noted, one of whom she already knew. Matt's sister, Katie. The other two, however, she did not recognize. "Allow me to introduce you. You already know Pidge, but this is-"

"Lance McClain," the gangly one cut in, and she could have sworn that he'd _winked_ at her, "-paladin of the blue lion, at your service."

Clearly displeased at being cut off, Allura merely frowned. "Yes. Lance. With him is Hunk Garrett, the paladin of the yellow lion."

The bigger of the pair gave her a nervous smile, offering a hand. "Like she said, I'm Hunk."

"Hunk," taking his hand, she gave it a firm shake, like how Matt had taught her, "-a pleasure to meet the both of you. You can trust us to ensure the success of your mission."

All three, she noted, were clad in paladin armor. The sight of it caused something to surge in her chest, and she did not deny it, nor would she even wish to.

She did, however, note that someone was missing.

"Is Keith not...?"

"Oh, that guy?" Lance cut in. "He's all _body shy_."

"What Lance means is, he's still changing." Pidge interjected. "But he'll be here soon."

"In the meantime, we have much to discuss." Allura said. "I have the exact coordinates for the yellow lion, however based off the reconnaissance information that you have sent us, extracting it from its current location may be a challenge, even with its paladin present."

"We've prepared a landing party, as requested." Te-Osh reported. "I will lead it myself."

"I'm coming too." Matt said. "Can't just let my sister rush off into danger by herself."

"Aw, Matt!" Pidge beamed, before she took on a far more stern expression. "But seriously, if you get yourself killed, I'll bring you back to life myself just so I can kill you again."

"Duly noted."

"She probably means it too."

Glancing up, she felt a faint smile grace her lips as she spotted Keith. He caught her eye for a moment, before his gaze darted away, as if he felt awkward.

Paladin armor suited him well.

"I want to state, just for the record," Hunk spoke up, "-that I have like, _zero_ battle experience. Just so you all know what you're getting into here."

"Fear not, paladin. We have fared countless battles against the Galra. We will protect you." Te-Osh assured him. She would see to it herself. "The planet on which the yellow lion is located is not as a heavily fortified as some of their other mining colonies. So long as we strike quickly, we will have the element of surprise on our side."

Unless the Galra were already aware the yellow lion was there, in which case, they would likely expect them to show up at some point. But she knew she didn't need to say that- it was likely something which had already been on the princess' mind.

But what they _didn't_ know was that they were in possession of the blue lion, and that gave them an edge. They were not aware of the Castle of Lions either, in so far as she knew, but that would remain behind, as it was where the black lion was sealed.

While it had an impressive amount of firepower, showing all one's cards at once was unwise. The princess seemed to know this just as well as she did.

What they could not expect was that they had the yellow lion's paladin. That too, gave them an advantage.

"Your strike ships will not be alone." Allura assured her. "The green and blue lions will lead the initial assault. The red lion will be our drop ship, as it is the fastest. The yellow lion's heavy armor should allow it to break through any defensive line, once we obtain it."

"Yeah, and we'll be able to like, wormhole straight there!" Matt chimed in.

_Wormhole_. She had heard that ancient Alteans were capable of creating such things, but for the longest time, she had thought it merely legend. It would appear, however, that it was quite true.

"We will strike hard and fast." Allura stated. "Once we have retrieved the yellow lion, I can create a wormhole to enable a clean escape. Do we know if there are any prisoners in the mines?"

"I do not believe so." Te-Osh stated. "Based on our intelligence, the planet is being mined largely by drones. No slaves of any kind."

Allura merely gave her a curt nod of her head, looking relieved. She suspected that the princess would not be able to live with herself if she left anyone behind, so the knowledge that it wouldn't be a factor was doubtlessly reassuring to hear.

Were there any, given time, they would be able to formulate a plan to break them out- they had done such raids before. However time was _not_ their ally here- even if the Galra were unaware of the presence of the yellow lion, it would likely not remain that way for long.

"Do we know if there will be any cruisers in the area?" Pidge asked.

"None." Te-Osh stated. "But it is possible that they might be able to call for backup."

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Keith said. "Pidge?"

" _Definitely_ not a problem." Pidge agreed, adjusting her glasses with an impish grin. "First rule of being a space pirate- don't let them call for backup."

"I thought the first rule of being a space pirate was shoot first, ask questions later." Matt said.

"Only if you're Keith." Pidge noted. "Except in his case it's more like _never_."

"Hey," narrowing his eyes, Keith glowered at Pidge, "-I ask questions sometimes."

"Yeah, _aggressively_." Pidge shot back.

"Hey, it works." Keith protested.

"With a face like Keith's," Lance chimed in, "-I bet everything comes across as aggressive."

Gritting his teeth, Keith turned on his heel, almost seeming to _growl_ at the blue paladin. "You want to say that again?"

Clearing her throat, Allura stepped between the pair, a certain grace to her movements. "If we could refrain from petty quarreling, I believe we have a mission to finish planning. Pidge," looking her way, heedless of the pair of glares she was standing between, "-do you mean to say you have a way to block communications?"

"Sure." Pidge told her. "Back when Keith and I first started raiding Galra ships, I developed a program to jam all outbound Galra transmissions. I'm pretty sure I can program the green lion to do the same."

Beaming, Matt ruffled Pidge's hair, heedless of the squeak of protest she let out. "That's my sister!"

"So we fly in, jam their transmissions," Lance began, seemingly having moved on from his staring contest with Keith, "-get the yellow lion, and fly out? Sounds like a piece of cake."

Hunk, she noted, looked doubtful. "I'm not sure it's going to be that easy. I mean... what if we get there, and the yellow lion doesn't respond to me?"

"I am certain that it will." Allura stated. "Have faith in yourself, Hunk. You are the yellow paladin."

Frowning, Hunk merely gave her a rather uncertain nod of his head. "So like... when are we doing this? Today? Tomorrow? Tomorrow's good."

"Pidge?" Allura asked. "How long do you think it will take for you to make a copy of your program?"

"Give me half a varga." Pidge told her.

"Right." Nodding her head, Allura turned towards Te-Osh. "Let your fellow rebels know that we will begin in half a varga. The faster we obtain the yellow lion, the better."

Giving the Altean princess a curt nod of her head, she couldn't agree more. "Understood. I'll pass word to the rest of our forces."

"Keith," looking his way, Allura briefly frowned, "-I trust that you can make the drop safely."

"I think I can manage." Keith said.

"Hey, just for the record," Hunk interjected, "-when you say _drop_ , you don't mean like... a _literal_ drop, do you?"

At the ensuing pause, the yellow paladin grew visibly more nervous.

"...do you?"

* * *

They did.

They one hundred percent did.

He knew it. Called it, even. This was _exactly_ the kind of reason why he didn't want to get involved in this mess in the first place. Too much action, not enough thinking about the guy actually having to _do_ the action.

Listen, he wasn't one to fault Keith's piloting, but flying in the red lion? Not easy on his stomach. Nor was getting literally _dropped out of it_.

And he thought dropping out of an air vent was bad.

Granted, the paladin armor helped. He didn't know what it was made out of, but it was _tough_. Form fitting too. He kind of hadn't expected that, even though really, he should have, since Pidge's armor fit her, and she was like, a good head or two smaller than the rest of them.

But yeah. Getting dropped out of the red lion, while it was still in motion? Not a fan. He had no idea how the other two had managed to land so flawlessly- heck, even _Matt_ had done it, so it wasn't like could just chalk it up to alien genetics.

There was also the fact that they were, you know, being shot at.

Keith had taken out a fair number of the guards- _sentries_ , the big, scary robot dudes were called sentries- but he hadn't been able to take out _all_ of them. Which meant the ones that he hadn't taken out were now shooting at them, all while he tried to _not_ think about the fact that he was being shot at, so that he could focus on hotwiring the controls for the mine shaft elevator so they could get to the yellow lion.

Yep. Yep, this was a lot worse than when they had stolen the blue lion.

Why couldn't _his_ be that easy? Lance had gotten to basically waltz off with his, but _no_ , he had to raid a Galra occupied planet to get his lion.

Great. So much fun.

"Hunk!" Matt called out. "Any time now!"

"I know, _I know_!" Hunk yelled. "Just about- okay, there we go!"

Breathing a bit easier as the shaft elevator slowly began to descend, he couldn't relax for long. Who knew if there were even more sentries down there?

More sentries meant more shooting. Which yeah, not a big fan of.

Thankfully, turned out there weren't any. He really wished that put him more at ease, but it just felt... strange. He didn't know why, it just did.

"This is supposed to be an active mining planet, right?" Hunk asked, stepping out of the shaft elevator with no small amount of apprehension. "So where are all the workers?"

"They could be in another section of the mine." Te-Osh noted. "Our intelligence indicates that there are several on this planet."

Hm. That sounded reasonable enough. Still, there was just something about this whole situation that put him on edge. Granted, that was probably due to again, the whole being _shot at_ thing, but _still_.

"Well this is definitely where the yellow lion is." Matt remarked. "Check out all the carvings."

Huh. He was right.

Now that he actually took the time to look, they _were_ everywhere. It kind of reminded him of the cave that he and Lance had found the blue lion in- not that they had a lot of time to marvel at them. The moment Lance had touched one of them, they had all lit up blue and sent them hurtling down an underground waterfall.

Yeah, that hadn't been fun either.

Experimentally, Hunk reached out a hand, lightly brushing it against one of the carvings. With all of these things around, how had the Galra not realized what they were sitting on top of?

Or maybe they had.

Maybe they had, and this was all some kind of a trap.

Burying that negative thought, Hunk didn't have try hard for once. Underneath his touch, the lion carving seemed to glow, illuminating the dark cave with a vivid shade of yellow. Unlike the blue lion's cave, only a few of the carvings lit up here- heck, if he didn't know any better, he'd say they were lighting up a path.

Hold on.

They _were_.

"So," Matt spoke up, seeming to have realized the same thing he had, "-we have to go through there?"

"So it would seem." Te-Osh observed, looking at the bright circle on the wall, glowing a vivid yellow. "Any ideas?"

Eyes scanning the cave, Hunk frowned. There was no way they could get through solid rock on their own, not unless Te-Osh was hiding some freaky alien powers or something. Eyes falling on a piece of mining equipment, Hunk looked towards it, then back towards the cave wall.

Yeah. That'd work.

You know, honestly, he thought hotwiring alien tech would be like, _harder_. Turned out it was pretty similar to hotwiring a car- not that he'd ever done that, no sir, not him. Just because he _had_ a skill, didn't mean he necessarily had to put it to use, okay?

(Okay, so _maybe_ Lance had talked him into hotwiring a few Garrison hoverbikes. But they always put them back!)

Catching on, Matt grinned. "Good call. Nice of them to just leave this stuff lying around for us."

"Yeah, I still find this all kind of fishy." Hunk frowned. "Like, why is no one following us?"

"Maybe they can't get the shaft elevator back up?" Matt suggested.

Frowning, Hunk wasn't sure if he bought that or not. But maybe Matt was right, and he was just being paranoid. Wouldn't be the first time. After all, the Galra couldn't possibly have a reason to just let them steal the yellow lion, could they?

It wasn't like they could plant a tracker on it or anything, not with the whole particle barrier force field thing they had going on.

"Perhaps he has a point." Te-Osh admitted- and oh man, he really wished she _hadn't_. Honestly, he didn't even want to be right! He wanted to be _wrong_! So very, very wrong!

"You think this could be a trap?" Matt asked.

"I am unsure." Te-Osh admitted- and again, _really_ wished she hadn't. "But the yellow paladin is correct. Something about this feels... strange."

"I mean, it _may_ just be paranoia." Hunk chimed in, trying not to distract himself _too_ much from his work. If this was some kind of weird trap, that was only _more_ reason to get this thing up and running so that they could get out of here already. "I am- I tend to kind of get that way. You know, overthinking things. It's a- it's a problem."

"Perhaps not." Te-Osh told him. "Matt, can you do a scan for life signs?"

Blinking, Matt frowned. "Yeah, no problem."

Well now he was just wishing he had never even brought it up. Trying instead to focus his attention on hotwiring the drill, he let out a slight sigh of relief when he got it to work. Right. Now maybe they could just get the yellow lion and get out of here.

"Uh, Te-Osh?" Oh no. He did not like the sound of that. "I think maybe Hunk was right. We've got company."

Oh no.

Oh. No.

"Where is-?"

She didn't even get a chance to finish her sentence, because the next thing they knew, the entire cave was rocked by some kind of powerful energy blast. Grunting, Hunk ducked his head, only peeking up once the shaking had stopped.

That _so_ had not been one of the sentries' laser guns.

When he looked up, the first thing he saw was Matt's pale face, his eyes saucer wide.

"...shiro?"

* * *

_"-iro?"_

That was all it took.

That faint, half whispered name was all it took to throw him out of his battle frenzy, turning the blood that had been hot in his veins ice cold. It wasn't the name itself, though that would have been more than enough to shake his resolve, but no- it was the way it had been spoken.

"Matt?" He hissed his name, without meaning to. "Matt, what's going on? Did you say Shiro? Is Shiro there?"

Silence.

No, not silence. _Static_.

Feeling his heart pound in his chest, Keith gripped the controls of the red lion tight. He could barely even hear the sound of her low rumble, trying to reassure him, so fixed on that single name, and the disbelief with which it had been spoken.

Disbelief, and _fear_.

"Pidge," he began, "-Pidge, I think something's wrong. I can't get through to Matt."

"I know, I know!" Pidge hissed. "Something is jamming our communications with the planet. I don't know what it is."

"You don't think it could be that program of yours, do you?" Lance asked.

"No, it's not that." Pidge said, her tone curt. She had to have heard the same thing he did, right before their coms went dead. "It's designed only to block Galran transmissions, and we're all using _Altean_ tech right now. It shouldn't-"

"I'm going back down there." Keith cut her off. "I have to- I have to check this out."

If Shiro was really there, then he had to.

"Keith, no, you cannot-"

Whatever Allura was going to say didn't make it through, a blast of static sending feedback pounding through his head. Hissing, he pulled off his helmet on reflex, tossing it aside with a clatter, but it was too late- all he could hear was ringing in his ears. Groaning, he slumped over in the red lion's seat, trying to drown out the sound of it-

-and felt something cold creep up his spine.

Eyes snapping open, they went wide. Before them, cruiser after cruiser manifested, coming out of hyperspace right in front of them. He counted at least ten, maybe more- but that wasn't- that wasn't the source of that _feeling_ , the one that made him feel like he was going to vomit.

She was there.

Haggar was there.

For an instant, her presence was all that he could focus on. Convulsing in his seat, the static was now in his head, scattering everything else, growing louder and louder-

-and then it was silent.

No, he realized, slowly drawing in a shaky breath. Not silent.

Red.

Breathing out, he slowly curled his fingers back around the red lion's controls. Right. As long as Red was here, he would be fine. Sucking in another breath, he let it fill his chest, before slowly letting it out.

"-don't understand," Pidge's voice slowly entered his awareness, and he dimly realized that Red had hooked the coms back up, since he'd yanked off his helmet, "-shouldn't be-"

Static. Real this time. Jamming.

It cleared a moment later. Pidge.

"-this was a _trap_."

Yeah, he was starting to gather that now.

"What do we do?" Lance's voice, panicked, came over the coms next. "We can't just leave Hunk down there!"

"You think I don't know that?" Pidge hissed. "That's my brother down there with him!"

"Guys," cutting in, Keith grit his teeth, finally shaking off the last of his haze, "-we don't have time for this. We have to take down these cruisers and get out of here. Pidge, can you reestablish communications with Hunk and Allura?"

"I can, but not while dodging _laser fire_." Pidge reported.

Right. Of course not.

Another voice broke in through the coms- right, the rebel ships. They were here too. Captain... Captain Olia, he thought this one was, maybe. He wasn't great with names, but he was pretty sure that was right.

"We'll cover you."

"Yeah, me too." Lance agreed. "I've got your back."

"I've got about three shots with the railgun," Keith told her- and god, he wished he knew _which_ cruiser the witch was on so he could just blow it to kingdom come, but he couldn't tell that much, "-that'll distract them for awhile. In the meantime, Pidge, reestablish communications with Allura so we can get out of here. We're just going to have to trust Hunk to get the yellow lion."

He could do it.

He _had_ to believe that. After all, Hunk hadn't even _wanted_ to be a paladin, he'd said so himself, but he'd still found his resolve to be a part of this. That had to mean something.

Except...

...had Matt really said Shiro's name?

No. No, he couldn't focus on that right now. He had to concentrate.

Feeling Red's determined purr almost in his bones, Keith steadied himself. He could do this. _They_ could do this. Now was as good a time as any to put that whole positive thinking thing to the test, right?

Right?

"Okay girl," turning the red lion around, he grit his teeth, "-let's show them what we've got."

* * *

Shiro.

It was Shiro.

It took him a second to realize that the static wasn't just in his head, but it was actually coming from their coms. It took him even longer to actually process what it was he was looking at here.

Because that was _Shiro_.

But something was wrong. Very, _very_ wrong.

It wasn't the white forelock, or the scar across the bridge of his nose. It wasn't even the twisted metal, glowing a menacing pink-purple, that took the place of his right arm, unwieldy and _wrong_.

No.

It was the look in his eyes.

Cold, cold enough to send a chill up his spine. Like he didn't even recognize him.

He lifted a hand- the massive, clawed, metal hand-

-and then he found himself picked up and thrown into the drill car with Hunk, letting out a surprised yelp that didn't at all fit the situation they were in.

"Go!" Te-Osh yelled. "I will hold him off!"

"But that's-!"

Shiro. It was Shiro. It _had_ to be Shiro.

But why was he...?

No, this was wrong, this was all wrong. This _wasn't_ how their reunion was supposed to go. Because he was pretty sure that right now, Shiro was here to _kill them_.

_"Go!"_

He wanted to open his mouth to protest, but Hunk had already started the drill. It felt like everything was playing out in a distant haze, like he wasn't really here, watching Te-Osh exchange blows with someone he had come to consider like family.

"-att! Matt!"

Snapping back to his senses, Matt sucked in a breath. Hunk's hand was on his shoulder, and judging by the frantic look in his eyes, he was freaking out just as much as he was right now.

"Hunk," he croaked, "-you saw him, right?"

" _Please_ tell me that wasn't Takashi Shirogane." Hunk pleaded. "Actually no, don't. Don't say anything at all. Because I don't think I could handle it if you said yes. Also, can you connect with anyone outside, because I sure as heck can't."

"I- you were right." Matt said, even as he realized that wasn't an answer to any of Hunk's questions. "You were right. This was a trap. Te-Osh, we have to-"

"I know, I know, but we _have_ to get the yellow lion first." Hunk told him, flinching as the cave walls shook, presumably from another one of those laser blasts, which he now realized must have come from that wicked looking arm that Shiro was sporting.

"C'mon, c'mon," Hunk muttered, growing more anxious the longer it took to bore through the cave wall, before finally, "-we're clear! Let's go!"

He didn't even object to the rough way Hunk grabbed his arm, instead letting him haul him to his feet from the position he'd rather unceremoniously landed in. The yellow lion lay in front of them, but they had no time to marvel in awe at it- they could do that later, once they got Te-Osh, and figured out what the hell was going on with Shiro.

Thankfully, all of Hunk's worries about being the yellow paladin proved for naught. The barrier fell away before he even touched it, as if the yellow lion sensed the urgency of the situation. The pair of them scrambled up the ramp, scurrying into the cockpit as quick as they could manage, Hunk all but slamming into the pilot's seat.

"I just remembered I don't know how to fly."

* * *

This was bad. This was super bad.

First of all, turned out this whole thing was, in fact, one big trap. He knew it. He hated that he knew it, but he knew it.

Second of all, seriously, had that been Takashi Shirogane? You know, the pilot of the Kerberos mission? The one that had been captured by the Galra? That one?

Third of all, yeah, he had no idea how to fly this thing. Or _anything_ , for that matter. But definitely not an ancient alien warship. Which, by the way? This was. Oh man. Oh man, they were so screwed.

He was damn near on the cusp of flat out panicking when he heard it- a low, deep rumble that sounded a lot like purring. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he'd say it _was_ purring.

No wait- it was. It was definitely purring.

He hadn't gotten what Lance had meant, back when he had told him that the blue lion had spoken to him, just not in words. But now? Now he kind of felt like he got it.

He knew what to do.

Squaring his shoulders, he gripped at the yellow lion's controls. Suddenly, he didn't feel half as afraid anymore- there was something about being in the yellow lion that made him feel _safer_ \- maybe it was the armor. Some part of him, probably the part the lion was talking to, already knew that this thing had some _seriously_ thick armor.

"Alright," he began, "-we're getting out of here."

"We can't leave Te-Osh." Matt reminded him, like he could somehow even forget that.

"No, yeah, not planning on leaving her." Hunk said.

At his command, the yellow lion rose to its feet- and then bashed through the cave wall, like it was nothing.

Unfortunately, that was also what they found.

Nothing.

No Te-Osh. No Shiro.

Just signs of a battle. Te-Osh's staff, snapped in half.

Blood. Oh man, that was blood.

"No," Matt began, "-no, she can't have- they _have_ to be somewhere deeper in the cave, he can't have- Hunk, we have to go after them, we've got to-"

"-unk!"

He guessed his attention being thrown every which way was just how things were going to go today. A second after that crackle of static burst through, one that sounded an awful lot like his name, and even more like Lance's voice, came a proper transmission.

"Hunk, oh thank god, you got the yellow lion." Lance's image popped up on screen. "We gotta get out of here buddy, like, _pronto_."

"Not without Te-Osh." Matt stated.

"We might have to!" Pidge's voice chimed in, grunting as if something had thrown her. "We've got like, ten cruisers out here, and they just keep coming! At this rate we're not going to last!"

"Can't we just shoot them down?" Matt asked. "Like Keith did with Sendak's ship?"

"Not gonna happen." Keith's voice this time. "Already took down three of them- that's all the shots she's got. Red's already starting to list. We have to go."

Opening his mouth to protest, Matt quickly shut it, gritting his teeth. "... _fine_. Let's go."

Looking up at him, Hunk frowned. He didn't like the idea of leaving Te-Osh behind either, but she was gone, alongside what _definitely_ had to be Shiro, and they didn't even know where to start looking for her, or even if they could.

They had to go.

"Okay," Hunk began, "-I'm coming out to you guys."

Gripping the yellow lion's controls tight, he tried very hard not to think about what he was about to fly into. Tried to very hard not to think about the fact that they were leaving someone behind.

Trying very hard to think about how this had been a trap.

And very, _very_ hard not to think about how he got the feeling that this wasn't over yet.


	22. champion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Champion's voice was cold, devoid of emotion. It had been a liability, so she had stripped it from him. It had not been an easy task, as he had fought her at every turn, but in the end, she had time as her ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, the next chapter is here! Hopefully maybe I'll be able to finish the next chapter of maroon before I leave on vacation, but no promises. Which, as I mentioned on my previous update of anomalous point, I am doing. From Monday to Saturday next week, I'll be on vacation! So obviously, fanfic will not really be a priority during that time period.

She watched, impassive, as the lions and the rebel ships alike slipped through their net, making their escape through a wormhole. The Altean princess' work, no doubt.

It did not matter. Her goal today was never the lions. Those would come, in time. They had been searching the universe for them for ten thousand years- impatient though he could be, her lord could afford to wait a little longer.

No. All that mattered was what she had sent the Champion to do.

"High priestess," the druid's voice caused her to turn her head, but not much else, "-the Champion has returned."

"And was he successful?"

"He was unable to capture either of the requested individuals." The druid informed her. "However, he was able to capture one of the rebels. We believe that she may be of use to us."

Narrowing her eyes, Haggar frowned. It had been her initial plan to capture the Earthlings- either of the two siblings would have worked. The black market dealer that she had tracked down had informed them that in addition to the Altean princess, and the Earthling he already kept in his company, that he had managed to find yet another Earthling to serve as part of his crew.

She did not need a description of them to know who they were. Including the prototype, there were only five this far out in space. It was not hard to guess that he was their missing prisoner. The footage she had recovered from the ship on which the Altean princess' pod had been transported on only served to prove that.

As well as the fact that he appeared to be family to the small Earthling the prototype had brought back to space with him.

Either way, she had hedged her bets that one of them would be involved with the retrieval.

"Bring them to me."

The druid bowed, wordlessly leaving her side. She was aware that one of the two humans who had been captured alongside Champion had been freed from one of their work camps by rebels, so perhaps she could still make use of this rebel they had captured. Humans, she had learned, all shared the same weakness- they _cared_.

She had wiped such weaknesses from the Champion.

With him, she would not only be able to seize the missing prototype, but also the lions with it. Once he was secure in her hands, she would then use him against his supposed allies, eliminating the budding threat of Voltron, once and for all.

How amusing it was, that her experiment had been chosen by the red lion as its paladin. Perhaps it had taken pity on him.

With the finished product already in development, perhaps there was no need to reclaim the prototype. It was why she had, thus far, allowed him to do as he pleased, even with the red lion at his side. However, now that the cards were as such, she would fully make use of him- he, alongside the Champion, would become a weapon of the Galra Empire.

How fitting, given their once bond.

She'd nearly laughed, once she had realized it. It had been so unexpected, that out of all the Earthlings they could have captured, the one that they had managed to snare was none other than the halfbreed's brother. Perhaps not by blood, but that did not change the fact that the man possessed just as much potential as did his younger sibling.

"High priestess."

The Champion's voice was cold, devoid of emotion. It had been a liability, so she had stripped it from him. It had not been an easy task, as he had fought her at every turn, but in the end, she had time as her ally.

And time always won.

"Champion," Haggar turned to face him fully, "-did you complete your mission?"

"No," he told her, "-there was an interference."

Directing her gaze downwards, she studied the interference in question. A rebel, based on her attire, from the borderlands, at that. Based on her ears, she was likely from planet Kythra, a member of one of the desert tribes.

Ranveig's territory.

She was not conscious, but in spite of the fact that she was seeping blood from a wound on her lower left leg, she appeared alive. Based on the footage from the work camp that the Earthling had escaped from, it had been a Kythraian that had assisted in his escape. She would be willing to bet that they were one and the same.

Good. She could use this.

"We can still use her." Haggar said. "Our plans have not changed."

The Champion merely stared straight forward, unblinking. "How shall we contact them?"

"Leave that to me." Haggar told him. "Take the prisoner to be treated. She's no good to us dead."

Raising his right hand over his heart, the Champion bowed his head. "Vrepit sa."

Hoisting the rebel over his shoulder, the Champion departed her presence. She had seen in him potential, even before he had been thrown into the arena, and under her guidance, that potential had blossomed. While perhaps splitting her attention between the Champion and the prototype had allowed the latter to escape, in the end, she had been able to produce a weapon greater than any the Galra Empire had known.

The perfect soldier.

She had desired to make the prototype into such at first, but that was before she had discovered his sensitivity to quintessence. That changed everything.

It was to her great regret that she had been unable to catch the spy that had allowed him to escape. Lieutenant Thace, Commander Prorok's right hand- it did not surprise her in the least that a spy had managed to slip in under his command. He had always been careless, clinging to status he had earned from his ancestors, and not through his own works.

He had since been taken care of.

Turning on her heel, she gazed out onto the vast abyss of space. Thanks to the princess' wormhole, she now knew where she would be able to find her.

And that she had the Castle of Lions with her.

She would allow them time- time to debrief, for confusion to spread. The bond that the prototype and the missing prisoner alike shared with the Champion would create a rift, and in the center of that rift, she would make contact, offering a trade.

The Altean princess, she suspected, would not take it.

But it was not her that she was hoping to ensnare.

Half-Galra though he might be, he still possessed the same weakness that every human had. Caring. And his bond with the Champion was strong.

She would exploit that.

* * *

He had to tell them.

It was with a cold, sinking feeling that he realized this. As Hunk carefully brought the yellow lion in for a landing in its hangar, Matt felt a cold lump start to form in his throat.

He had to tell them about Shiro. They needed to know.

He had to tell _Keith_ about Shiro.

Sensing his nerves, Hunk glanced back towards him. "Hey, uh, you okay?"

"I- yeah, I'll be fine." Matt lied. "Just thinking about how to break the news."

"...so I'm guessing that was Takashi Shirogane after all, huh." Hunk said.

Closing his eyes, he tried to rid himself of the image that seemed to have burned itself into his retinas. Of Shiro, with that cold look in his eyes. Shiro, trying to kill them- trying to kill _him_.

Of Te-Osh's blood, a vivid red like a human's, spattered against the floor of the cave like paint. Her snapped and broken staff.

She _had_ to be alive, he told himself. There was no point in dragging off a corpse. Clutching at his chest, he drew in a deep breath, using it to steady himself. He could do this. Whatever was going on with Shiro, there was no way he was doing any of this by choice.

Not with that kind of look in his eyes.

"Yeah," Matt said, slowly opening his eyes, "-that was him."

"That's uh... yeah, that's bad." Hunk said. "I- should we tell the others?"

"We're going to have to." Matt told him, a tight frown on his lips. "I'll do it. I knew Shiro, so it should be me."

No sense pushing his responsibility onto a cadet, even if he wasn't actually all that much older than him.

"Oh yeah, guess you did." Hunk frowned. "Do you think he's-?"

"I don't know." Matt admitted, furrowing his brow. "I don't know what the Galra Empire is capable of. Maybe they brainwashed him. All I know is that there's no way Shiro would ever join them, not of his own free will. There _has_ to be something going on here."

Knowing that didn't make it any easier.

If Shiro really _was_ brainwashed, could they even break him out of it? He didn't even know how they had done it, or even if it _was_ brainwashing. What if they'd done something even worse? What if they'd like... reprogrammed his whole brain or something like that?

Which, technically, he guessed was still brainwashing but like... a whole different level of brainwashing.

"Hey, I believe you." Hunk said. "I mean, I never met the guy, but he kind of doesn't seem like the type to go off and join an evil alien empire."

Shoulders slumping, Matt cast him a grateful smile. Staring out of the yellow lion's cockpit, he noticed that there was already a crowd starting to gather outside of it- including Keith.

God, Keith.

What was he... what was he going to tell Keith?

Shiro was like a brother to him. It was bad enough that they had taken him too, but now they had brainwashed him, _experimented_ on him, from the looks of that right arm of his. The only one capable of making something like _that_ was Zarkon's witch, and if what he'd heard from Pidge was true, then Keith knew all too well what it was like to have Haggar's full attention.

Given the choice, he'd tell Keith first, in private.

But he didn't think they had that choice.

"Trust me," Matt said, "-he's not."

Nodding his head, Hunk pulled off his helmet, letting out a long sigh. It had been a long day for him too, he sensed. A week ago, he'd just been a normal cadet, and now here he was, paladin of an ancient semi-sentient weapon, one that he didn't even know how to pilot at first.

He had to admit, he'd done pretty well in spite of that.

Maybe if he'd just listened to Hunk's gut, they wouldn't be in this situation right now. The whole thing had been a trap, and they'd walked right into it.

Even worse, he got the sinking feeling that maybe Te-Osh _hadn't_ been Shiro's target. If she had been taken, he could only think of one reason- and that was that she was going to be used as a hostage. The cruiser brigade had just been there so they'd be forced to retreat, they'd never been the main plan.

He got the awful feeling that they were dealing with Haggar.

"So... you ready to go out there?" Hunk asked. "Or are you going to need a few minutes?"

It was a tempting offer, but no. The faster he got this over with, the better.

_Like ripping off a band-aid_ , Shiro had once told him, though he couldn't recall _why_ it had come up. It'd hurt either way, so best to just get it over with.

"I'm fine." Matt told him. "Let's go."

Heading down the yellow lion's ramp, he caught himself holding his breath. He could almost feel Keith's eyes on him, piercing right through him. He'd never actually thought they were creepy before, but now?

Now they kind of were.

Exhaling, he squared his shoulders. He had to do this. One way or another, this wasn't something that they could ignore. Shiro was out there, being used, and if there was anything he could do to save him, then he'd do it, in a heartbeat.

Shiro had saved him once. If it hadn't been for him, he probably would have died in the arena. _Slaughtered_ , his skull bashed in by a monster more than three times his size. The scar on his knee was testament to that.

He owed it to him to try and help him now.

"Matt," it was Allura who spoke first, scanning their small party in confusion, "-where is Te-Osh? Was she not with you?"

Right. Allura didn't know yet.

"It was a trap." Matt informed her, in no uncertain terms. "I don't know how, but the Galra knew we were coming. Te-Osh... she sacrificed herself to save us. So that we could have a chance to get the yellow lion."

"We tried to go back for her." Hunk hurriedly supplied. "But she was just... gone."

"Gone?" Pidge asked. "How could she just disappear?"

"She didn't just disappear."

Keith's curt tone drew everyone's attention to him, and for once, he didn't falter at it. Narrowing his eyes, the half-Galra leveled his gaze with him. "I heard you. You said Shiro's name."

"Wait, Shiro?" Lance interjected. "Like, pilot of the Kerberos mission Shiro? That Shiro?"

"Why would there even _be_ any other Shiro out here?" Keith snapped.

"Geez, don't get your panties in a twist." Lance frowned. "It was just a question."

Glowering at Lance, Keith made a low growl. It was enough to cause Lance to flinch, slowly edging away from the half-Galra. Usually he'd say that Keith's bark was worse than his bite, but under the circumstances... yeah, that was _probably_ a good call.

Looking up towards him, Pidge frowned. "Matt?"

Realizing that there was no easy or kind way to say this, Matt just let out a long sigh, bracing himself for the impact his words were bound to have. "Yeah. I did. He was there."

Silence fell over the yellow lion's hangar then, a tense hush that put him on edge. Chancing a glance in Keith's direction, he found his face to be unreadable- not that he'd expected anything else. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this hadn't been how he'd wanted their reunion to go.

"Wha- why would he be there?" Lance blurted out, confused. "Hunk?"

"I don't know." Hunk was quick to admit. "All I know is that something was _seriously_ wrong."

"Wait," brows furrowing together, he watched as his sister put the limited information she had been given together, piece by piece, "-are you saying it was _Shiro_ who captured Te-Osh?"

And there it was, out in the open.

"Yeah." Matt told her. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Like Hunk said, I think something was wrong with him. He didn't... he wasn't the normal Shiro. I'm not even sure if he knew who I was."

"And he had this like, freaky metal arm." Hunk added. "Shot laser beams."

"Yes, thank you, Hunk." Matt said. "That too."

There was a crack in Keith's mask, his brows furrowing in thought. Visceral horror came next, plain as day even in his alien eyes, followed by something else he couldn't quite place, like something had dawned on him. If possible, he would have said that he'd gotten even _paler_.

"I wasn't the only one."

"Keith?" Pidge looked up at him, frowning.

"I wasn't the only one." Keith repeated. "Haggar, she had... she had someone else that she was experimenting on. I never knew who, I just knew that she'd started splitting her attention."

Oh. That was guilt.

"Hold on a tick," Allura cut in, "-what do you mean, _experimented on_? And who is Haggar?"

Flinching, Keith's eyes darted up towards the Altean princess, _fear_ momentarily taking the place of the guilt and the horror. "I-"

"Look, it doesn't matter what Haggar did to Keith." Pidge cut in. "What matters is what she did to _Shiro_."

Frowning, Allura's gaze lingered on Keith for a moment longer, before she turned it towards Pidge. "I suppose. But that still does not answer my previous question. Who is this Haggar?"

"Zarkon's witch?" Matt offered. "Creepy lady with blue skin and white hair? Always wearing a robe?"

"I am afraid I am not familiar with her." Allura said simply.

Holding up her arm, Pidge tapped her gauntlet, bringing up a holoscreen. In spite of himself, Matt couldn't help but briefly be impressed by the fact that they appeared to have some sort of in armor computer, but it wasn't a thought that he lingered on long. Bringing up a holographic image of Haggar, he didn't miss the way Keith went still.

"This is Haggar." Pidge said.

Leaning in close, Coran's gave his mustache a thoughtful stroke. "Why, those look like Galran funeral robes."

"Okay, didn't know that." Pidge remarked. "Are you saying all this time, she's been walking around dressed as a dead person? Because that's _super_ creepy."

"Okay, I am definitely missing something here." Lance cut in. "Shiro? Experiments? Creepy zombie witch lady? Will someone _please_ explain what's going on?"

"I wish I knew." Allura admitted, her gaze once more briefly flickering towards Keith. "But perhaps Keith here can fill us in."

He didn't even know it was possible for Keith to get any tenser than he already was, but he managed. "Look- I don't know what she did to Shiro. I didn't- I didn't even know he was _there_."

Maybe it was the obvious pain in those words, but it was enough to cause Allura to back down, instead letting out a long breath. "Whatever the case, we should not keep our guests waiting for much longer. But we must explain to them why Te-Osh did not return from the mission, as well as consider our options as to what we should do next."

"I'll tell them." Matt said. "I know them."

Nodding her head, Allura's frown didn't fade. "That would help. They should have landed in the main hangar by now. Paladins," and he didn't miss the way her gaze briefly lingered on Keith- nor did Keith, "-you have all had a rough battle. Take this as your chance to relax, and change out of your armor."

There was a clear air of hesitation in the room, not a surprise, given how tense everyone was. Changing out of their armor was probably the last thing on their minds.

Hunk ended up taking the lead. "Yeah, we'll do that." He said. "Do you want us to join you in the main hangar, or...?"

"The bridge." Allura told him. "Whatever is going on here, we cannot simply abandon Te-Osh. That is _not_ how Voltron does things."

He didn't get the feeling that the princess was berating any of them for leaving her behind- under those circumstances, there was nothing they could have done. But it still stung.

Especially since he wouldn't be here right now without Te-Osh.

Leaving them with instructions to reconvene on the bridge in half a varga, Allura departed, Coran flanking her side. Casting a quick glance towards Pidge and Keith, Matt hurried to catch up. He was a little worried about Keith's mental state, but when it came down to it, his sister knew him better than he did- so he'd just leave him to her.

He really should have remembered rule number of the rebellion- that things never went as planned. Still, this... this was a lot more deviance from the plan than he could have ever expected.

One thing was clear- they had to get Te-Osh back. Her _and_ Shiro.

He got the feeling the latter would be a lot more challenging.

* * *

"So uh, do you-"

Keith didn't even give Hunk a chance to finish his question. He seriously wasn't in the mood to answer it. Ignoring Pidge's protest he stalked off, leaving the group behind him.

Shiro.

Shiro had been there.

He _hadn't_ heard things. He should have- he knew he should have gone down to the planet, to check things out. Why hadn't he? Shiro had _been there_ , and now he'd slipped through his fingers.

Gritting his teeth, he felt his claws dig into his armor. He probably looked every bit the fearsome Galra that people pegged him as, but right now, he didn't care.

It wasn't that he was angry at any of the paladins, or even Allura. No, he was angry at himself. Shiro had been there, on Central Command, the entire time, and he hadn't even _known_. He'd even been _grateful_ that Haggar wasn't paying as much attention to him lately. It was enough to make him sick to his stomach.

Sure, fine, maybe he didn't have any _proof_ \- but just based off what Matt had told them, he knew it had to be true. Otherwise there would be no reason why Shiro would ever work with the Galra Empire. He wasn't- he wasn't like that.

No, if he was working with them, it wasn't out of his own free will.

He didn't stop walking until he'd reached his quarters. It was only once he was safe inside that he actually felt himself breathe.

Yanking off his helmet, he tossed it aside, hitting the wall with a loud _thud_. Sinking down onto his bed, he dug his hands into his hair, his claws pressing into his scalp. This was _his_ fault. He'd left Shiro behind.

Letting out a growl of frustration, Keith jerked his hands away from his head. What was he even _doing_ here? Playing paladin? Pretending to be some kind of hero? He'd abandoned his _brother_ , his only family, left him to the same fucking fate he'd endured for four years. What kind of defender of the universe did that?

Sure, maybe he hadn't known, but as far as he was concerned, that wasn't an excuse. _Shiro_ should be the one who was freed, not him. He had- he had people who cared about him, who loved him, and he...

Drawing in a long, shaky breath, Keith forced that line of thinking aside. No. He _knew_ he had people who cared about him. Shiro had never given up on him, even after everyone else thought he was dead. He owed it to him to do the same- whatever Haggar had done to him, there _had_ to be some way to undo it.

There _had_ to be.

He tried not to think about how he hadn't found any way to undo what she'd done to him.

Forcing himself to his feet, he began the process of shedding his armor. He really didn't want to face the princess now, not after he'd blurted out the fact that he'd been experimented on like that. She was already suspicious of him- the fact that she'd apparently accepted him as a paladin didn't change that fact.

It was only based out of necessity anyways.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to combat that thought. Positive thinking, he reminded himself. If his talks with Pidge had proved anything, it was that he didn't... really have the best grasp when it came to how other people felt about him. _He_ felt negatively about himself, so it was only natural to assume that everyone else did too.

Granted, everyone else didn't know how fucked up he was, but now he'd just thrown that out there, like a huge idiot. Sure, maybe he hadn't given any specifics, but it wouldn't be hard to guess. All it would take was one mistake, and they'd-

But if he ever wanted to be anything more than the monster Haggar had turned him into, then he had to at least _try_ to do the right thing. And right now, that was swallowing his fears, and heading to the bridge.

Discarding the last of his armor, he changed back into his casual wear. He didn't even really _need_ armor. He'd gotten by just fine without it when he'd been raiding Galra ships with Pidge, and it just felt _wrong_ on him.

On the other hand, if he got too badly hurt... yeah, he'd rather avoid that.

Pausing for a moment, his hand hovered over his heart. Narrowing his eyes, he traced the scars that lined it, chewing on his lip. _Haggar_ had been on one of those cruisers, and while he liked to entertain the idea that she had been on one of the ones that he'd shot down with Red's railgun, he doubted he was that lucky.

He was _never_ that lucky.

Yanking his shirt back on, he grabbed his knife, tucking it in place on his belt. Thoughts drifting back to the Lieutenant that had helped him escape, he briefly wondered what had become of him after that- if he'd been caught, or if he had gotten away.

And why _him_? Why not Shiro?

Realistically, he knew why. The research the witch had been doing on him was dangerous, he could understand that much. He'd be the first to admit that in spite of it being done to him, he didn't know much in regards to what she had been hoping to accomplish- only that he was the first step to replicating it on a much larger scale.

Compared to that, Shiro was just another prisoner.

But maybe... maybe if there had been one Galra there willing to help him escape, maybe there were others. If there were, and if they could figure out a way to get into contact with them, maybe they could find a way to save Shiro.

Provided there _was_ a way.

Grunting at the negative thought, Keith pressed his hand against the door panel- and nearly jumped out of his skin as Pidge manifested in his line of vision.

A very _annoyed_ Pidge.

"You shut the door on my face."

Blinking, he glanced over towards the door panel, then back towards Pidge. Had she followed him? Of course she had followed him, what was he thinking. "I... didn't know you were there?"

Frowning, Pidge locked eyes with him. "What do you even have those big ass ears for then?"

One hand straying to his ear, Keith frowned. It wasn't like he'd _asked_ for ears like this. Just adjusting to the new range of hearing had been a nightmare. "I was just- just thinking."

Heaving a sigh, Pidge's shoulders slumped. "You want to talk about it?"

"...is no an option?" Keith ventured.

Arching a brow, Pidge cast an assessing look up in his direction. She hadn't changed out of her paladin armor at all, so he guessed she'd just been standing there this whole time. He was surprised she didn't just barge right in.

"Only if we talk later." Pidge concluded.

Chewing on his lip, Keith just nodded his head. Maybe... maybe talking to someone else would help, if only to just get out of his own head. It wasn't exactly the best place to be. Just... not yet. He wasn't ready yet.

"Good." Giving him a curt nod of her own, Pidge proceeded to make a slight face. "Now if you don't mind, I'm dying to get out of this armor. Do you think it's _supposed_ to make us sweat like this?"

Unable to keep it back, he let out a faint laugh. "I think maybe that's just you."

Making a noise of disgust, Pidge crinkled her nose. "Ugh. Great."

It didn't last, though. Her expression softening, she raised her fist, tapping it lightly against his chest. "We'll get him back."

"We don't even know what's wrong with him." Keith stated.

"We'll figure it out." Pidge told him. "And we'll bring him home. He's family, right?"

Feeling something in his shoulders ease, Keith breathed out. Right. He didn't have to do this alone.

"Yeah," he said, uncertain what kind of expression he was even making, just that it was probably one he hadn't made in a long time, "-family."

* * *

"...so was that weird to you too?"

"Uh, do you mean Shiro being brainwashed or Keith?" Hunk asked. "Because both were pretty weird."

"I meant Keith." Pulling off his helmet, Lance frowned. "Was it just me, or did it sound like he _knew_ Shiro?"

"Well, they _were_ both prisoners of the Galra," Hunk said, "-so maybe they met in prison?"

Considering it, Lance's brow furrowed in thought. That sounded okay, at least, on the surface- but it had also kind of sounded like he hadn't even _known_ that Shiro was being held in the same place he had been. "It kind of sounded like more than that to me. He got pretty upset."

Granted, this _was_ Keith they were talking about. Maybe it was just the whole alien thing, but he was pretty sure the guy got his social skills from like, the bargain bin of a clearance store. He didn't know what it was about the dude, but there was just something about him that was hard to get along with.

Maybe it was just the name.

Or maybe it was the fact that he was, actually, a better pilot than him. He'd admit it- maybe not out loud, to Keith's face, but he'd admit it. Still, seriously, what were the odds of there being _two_ guys named Keith out there who could kick his butt at flying?

"I guess." Hunk frowned. "But I mean... I kind of get it. It's upsetting."

"The whole Shiro being brainwashed thing?" Lance asked. "Tell me about it. The guy's my _idol_. I don't want to fight him, brainwashed or not!"

"You should have seen it, Lance." Hunk told him. "Sure, it's not like I've ever met the guy before, although I guess now technically I _have_ , but I'm not sure if it really counts, given the whole-"

"Hunk."

Blinking, Hunk stopped himself short. "Oh, uh, right. Sorry."

"Hey, don't sweat it." Lance said. "But seriously, what do you think's up with Keith?"

"I don't know." Hunk admitted. "He's a complicated guy."

"I think he's just grumpy." Lance said. "Like, would it kill him to smile?"

"He smiles." Hunk told him. "Sure, maybe not a lot, but he totally does."

"Look, all I'm saying is that I get some _weird_ vibes from the dude." Lance told him. "It's not just me either. Blue does too. And then there's the whole weird thing with his bayard."

"Aw, he can't be that bad." Hunk said. "I mean, the red lion chose him, right?"

Frowning, Lance narrowed his eyes. "Hey, whose side are you on?"

Holding up his hands, Hunk gave him a weak smile. "All I'm saying is that we barely know the dude. I think maybe you should just give him a chance."

It wasn't like Hunk didn't have a point. Weird vibes or not, it was true that they barely knew the guy. Granted, his impression thus far of him wasn't great, but it wasn't like he'd done anything appallingly horrible either- aside from fashion crimes, that was. Maybe Hunk was right, maybe he should give him a chance.

Or maybe Allura was right. What _had_ he meant by being experimented on? Those words never carried positive implications, especially not when they involved ten thousand year old evil alien empires.

"Look, all I'm saying is that the guy is keeping secrets." Lance told him. "And I don't like it."

"Well yeah, but again, we did just meet." Hunk pointed out. "Maybe he just needs time to get used to us?"

Okay, fine. That was a good point, he'd admit it.

"Yeah, I guess." Lance admitted. "But hey- at least you got your lion, right? How's it feel, being a pilot?"

"Uh, nerve racking?" Hunk said. "Pretty sure my lion is like, the ground lion, which is fitting because if I had to choose, I'd like, never want to actually _leave_ it."

"You know, my tutorial offer still stands." Lance told him. "Lance McClain's School of Flight is open for business. Free of charge for good buddies."

"Hm, tempting." Hunk admitted. "But I think for now, we should stick to figuring out what to do next. We can't just leave Te-Osh in the hands of the Galra Empire."

Yeah, that was true too.

"You know it's not your fault though, right?" Lance asked. "What happened to her?"

Hunk's expression was strained, like he couldn't quite decide between being honest and frowning, or pretending to smile. "I know, it's just... I feel like I could have done more. Maybe if we had been a little faster in getting the yellow lion then maybe none of this would have happened."

"Hey, you did what you could." Lance told him. "That's what counts."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess." Hunk said, having apparently settled on frowning.

Chewing on his lip, he tried to think of something more to say, but just drew a blank. Comforting people... he was kind of a mixed bag when it came to it. Sometimes he was really good at it, but other times... well, other times, he just couldn't think of what to say, and anything he _did_ think of just sounded fake.

Now was one of those times.

Thankfully, he knew just what to do when it came to Hunk- and that was keep that big brain of his occupied.

"So," he began, trying not to let his own smile look too strained, "-you ready to go catch up with the princess?"

Looking up at him, Hunk gave him a slow nod of his head. "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

That'd have to do.

* * *

She tried not to act too much like she was staring.

She tried to convince herself that she didn't mean it, but she knew that wasn't true. Right from the start, she had known that there was something _off_ about Keith's quintessence, but for him to go so far as to confirm her suspicions was... well, she hadn't expected it, to say the least.

Even if it was clear he hadn't quite meant to say that.

Experimented on.

Those words could mean any number of things. It didn't _necessarily_ have to be anything sinister. Keith was a hybrid, the only one of his kind, from the sound of it. Perhaps this _Haggar_ had simply been curious about his physiology and had decided to obtain her answers in the most invasive of manners.

Perhaps not.

Haggar... even just from the still image that Pidge had shown her, there was something about her that put her ill at ease. She wasn't sure what it was, not exactly. Perhaps it was simply her choice of attire.

But as she had found, things were rarely that simple.

Keith caught her eye, then tried to pretend that he hadn't. Perhaps he might have fooled one of the humans, but not so for her. Clearly, whatever this _witch_ had done to him, it was more than just poking and prodding him until she found out how he ticked.

Regardless, now that everyone had gathered, it was time to begin the meeting.

"Paladins," she began, using one hand to indicate the rebel that had come back with her to the bridge, "-this is Captain Olia. She will be assisting us with the matter of Te-Osh's rescue."

"Wish we could have met in better circumstances," Olia began, "-but still, always pleased to meet the paladins of Voltron."

"I'm just sorry we had to leave Te-Osh behind like that." Pidge said. "I kind of liked her. And she did save Matt, so..."

"It'll take more than just this to do her in." Olia said. "She's a tough one."

"I suppose the main problem is that we do not even know where to begin looking." Allura mused. "She could have been taken to any one of the cruisers orbiting the planet, and from there, who knows where they went next."

"We may not have to look."

Blinking, she turned her gaze towards Keith. He wasn't quite looking at her- or anyone, really, for that matter. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... think about it." Keith said. "Why capture her when they could have just killed her? It doesn't make any sense."

"He's got a point." Pidge agreed.

"So what, you're saying that they're going to use her as a hostage?" Lance asked.

"It wouldn't be the first time the Galra Empire's tried a trick like that." Olia noted.

"Maybe they want to trade for the lions?" Pidge suggested.

That... seemed reasonable enough. It was not a trade she would make, no matter how much she wanted to ensure Te-Osh's safety.

"We can't trade them the lions." Matt stated. "Te-Osh wouldn't want that."

"Well yeah, no doubt about that." Pidge agreed. "But I can't think of anything else they would want to ask for, except for maybe Allura."

That was also a possibility. And yet... somehow it still looked as if there was something on Keith's mind. Something that he was debating saying out loud. Brow furrowing, she opened her mouth to ask, before he cut her off, causing her to lose her chance to speak.

"Look, either way, point is, they'll contact us." Keith said. "When they do, we can have Pidge trace the call. She's done it before, she can do it again."

"I could have Rover run a trace." Pidge suggested. "He's a Galra drone I reprogrammed, so he should be able to do it."

"I am not sure about this." Allura frowned. She was certain that Keith was correct, but even so. "I do not like the idea of simply sitting around and waiting."

"Neither do I." Keith admitted. "But we don't have much of a choice."

"Keith's right." Matt said. "We've got no idea where to start looking. At least this will give us some kind of an idea."

Heaving a sigh, Allura nodded her head. "Very well. I suppose that is our best course of action."

"So what, do we just sit around on the bridge and wait?" Hunk asked. "Because not to undermine the situation here, but my stomach's telling me that we've all missed lunch."

Yes, that was an awfully good point as well. While she suspected that Alteans could go for far longer without food than humans, it could not be ignored that there were four members of her crew that were human.

She wasn't quite sure where Keith fell, when it came to his appetite. He never turned down a meal, but she'd never exactly seen him seek out food on his own, either. But then again, it wasn't as if she had been watching him very closely. Pidge would likely know better than she did.

"Pidge, Matt, I would like for you to remain on the bridge if at all possible." Allura instructed. "I would like to begin the trace as soon as they contact us."

"Got it." Pidge said.

"Guess I'll go get Rover, then." Keith said- and before she could even say anything, he left.

He'd done it on purpose, she realized. Huffing slightly, she merely accepted it. Now was hardly the time to be stirring up tensions, not when they would all need to work together if they had any hope of rescuing Te-Osh.

Not to mention this _Shiro_. She did not know him at all, but from the sound of it, he seemed rather important to Matt- and perhaps he would be able to give them a clue as to the whereabouts of Pidge's father.

But perhaps most strangely of all, was that he seemed rather important to _Keith_ as well.


	23. strike a deal with the devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haggar did not even look the slightest bit fazed by the interruption, and continued on, as if she never had been. "You can turn yourself over to the Galra Empire," and this time, Allura did not interrupt, "-or you can choose to hand over the red paladin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, it feels like it's been awhile since I wrote a chapter that was just one big, long scene. But here we are, chapter twenty three, hot off the presses! I experimented with doing the Reveal this chapter, but it never came out quite right- though there are plenty of hints! And now we have a plan of action to save Shiro (and Te-Osh)! Will it go well? Who knows?
> 
> I mean, I know. But I'm not telling you.

Sitting crosslegged in the red paladin's chair, Keith watched as people flitted about the bridge, keenly reminded of the saying _busy as bees_. There was nothing he could really contribute, but it was better than being alone with his own thoughts right now. Even if it did mean dealing with Lance's hooded glare and Allura's more subtle, but still noticeable, stares.

He knew what he had done to earn both. Blurting out that he had been experimented on could pretty much only be taken one way. Toying with the edge of one of his boots, he debated just biting the bullet, getting it over with and just telling them the truth.

Maybe if it was _just_ Pidge and Matt, he'd actually consider it. But it was Pidge and Matt- and Allura and Coran. Lance and Hunk, who he had basically just met.

So no. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

That the red lion had chosen a monster. That the reason his bayard didn't work wasn't because it was broken, but because _he_ was broken. That the reason he didn't like changing around people was because he didn't want them to see the scars, etched like rune lines around his heart.

That his quintessence was his and not his.

So instead, he sat. Listened. It was a small mercy that the change to his ears had been slow, agonizingly so. It had helped him adapt to his new range of hearing, but even then, learning how to deal with being able to hear so much at once had been a cumbersome task. He'd been forced to perfect it quickly, for the sake of his sanity, if nothing else.

At least they weren't like Sendak's, he thought. He'd rather avoid being on the receiving end of cat puns. He purred, and that was already bad enough.

(Except he had always sort of done that. It just sounded more like a purr now.)

His ears twitched, picking up on Pidge's voice. She had just about finished the trace program. Coran had been helping her translate it from Galran, which it had been coded in, to Altean, which was the only language the castle-ship's operating systems were compatible with. The lions would accept anything, but the Castle was pickier.

Not that he understood the first thing about that. He'd always been better with his hands, like his dad had been. Coding was... well, not his strong suit, not by a long shot.

He tried not to think about Shiro.

He knew it wasn't his fault that he had been captured. He had just been in the wrong place, at the wrong time. He knew that. He also knew that it wasn't his fault that he had been left behind. He hadn't known that Shiro was there, no matter how much he beat himself up over it. He'd been offered the chance to escape, and he'd taken it. That was all.

But he couldn't say it wasn't his fault Shiro had been picked.

Out of all the possible prisoners, Haggar had picked _Shiro_. He knew full well she had been rooting around in his mind, scanning his memories for who knows what. She knew his past, in excruciating detail.

She would have seen Shiro.

Realistically, he knew it still wasn't his fault. But convincing himself of that? That's a trick he doesn't know if he can pull off.

Drawing his knife, Keith turned it over in his hands. He still needed to tell them about the Galra that helped him escape. It would be useful information, but he didn't know where to begin. They had made a point to give him back his mother's knife, so it had to have meant something.

He just wished they had said something. _Anything_.

He didn't know why he was so hung up over it. Maybe it was just a childish need to believe that his father had really been the hero he'd thought he was. That he hadn't been tricked, or even worse, had knowingly fallen in love with a monster.

That being a monster wasn't his destiny.

"Keith?"

Flinching at the sound of Allura's voice, Keith winced. Having great hearing didn't mean a damn thing if he wasn't paying attention, and he hadn't been paying attention. Grimacing, he realized that he'd cut himself- not bad, but enough to bleed, drops of red tinting his blade.

He was still human enough to bleed red. It was a small comfort.

He tried to hide it, but Allura quickly noticed. "I did not mean to- are you alright?"

"Yeah," Keith said, sucking on the cut finger, tasting iron, "-I'll be fine."

She didn't look convinced. "I can have Coran take a look, if you want."

"No," Keith insisted, withdrawing his finger and averting his gaze, not daring to look her in the eye, just in case, "-I'll be fine, I promise. It's not a bad cut."

"If you say so." Allura said. "That is... luxite, is it not? I heard Rolo mention something about it."

Giving her a curt nod of his head, Keith quickly sheathed his blade. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Allura frown, but he didn't know if it was because she had sensed something, or if it was just because she thought he was being unsociable. Either way, he just wanted her to go away.

It wasn't a bad cut. But it was enough.

"Right well," Allura hesitated, a second too long for Keith's comfort, "-we may need your expertise on raiding Galra ships."

He managed a weak smile at that, again nodding his head. "I- yeah. You can count on me."

He tried not to think how strange those words sounded, coming from him. _Count on him_. When was the last time, if ever, he'd said something like that? He wasn't exactly the kind of person that people could rely on- at least, he didn't think he was.

But it was at least enough to get Allura off of his back. Letting out a grateful sigh, he checked on the status of his finger, narrowing his eyes when he couldn't find a trace of the cut. Leaning back in his chair, he shut his eyes, wondering if Allura really hadn't felt anything. Or if she had, and she just hadn't said anything.

He would prefer it if she did. Maybe if he were confronted about it, he could finally just spit it out. It was like a heavy weight on his chest- one that he simultaneously wanted to keep hidden and get rid of. A paradox.

Maybe he should. Before Haggar got the chance to do it for him. Maybe- maybe they wouldn't look at him like a monster if he admitted it himself.

"Wait," opening his eyes, Keith rose to his feet, looking back towards Allura, "-Allura, I- there's something-"

He didn't get a chance to finish.

"Princess," Coran said, "-we're being hailed."

Turning towards Coran, Allura's face set itself in stone. "Put it through."

Closing his eyes, Keith grit his teeth. He knew that it was just coincidence, but he wouldn't put it past Haggar to have some way of knowing just the right timing. One hand straying over his heart, he sucked in a long, shaky breath, bracing himself to face her.

Haggar.

(He remembers her hands, corpse cold, against his skin. It makes him shiver.)

He wasn't afraid of her, not at first. He tried to convince himself that he still isn't, but he knows that's not true. He is. He's terrified of her. Of what he knows she's capable of. Of what she did to him.

But he was also angry. _Furious_ , that she had done what she had. That she had robbed him of four years of life- four years that he would never get back. That because of her, he couldn't walk openly on his own home planet any longer, couldn't pass as human.

He doesn't want to face her. He wants to kill her. A paradox.

But knowing that she has Shiro... that's enough to make him not want to run away. He doesn't really know if he can kill her, though. The desire is there, as is the ability- he's already cut down countless Galra soldiers, so it's not like he's concerned about the sanctity of life at this point.

Besides, he's not even sure if she's really _alive_. She left something of herself inside of him, and it's made him feel like he's rotting on the inside ever since. Lance might have been joking, but calling her a zombie witch might actually be apt.

But he'll do what he has to, whatever that is. For Shiro.

All this time, Shiro had never given up on him. Everyone had thought he was dead, but not Shiro. He'd refused- refused to believe it, refused to give up. And if Shiro had kept his promise, then the least he could do was to return the favor.

Thankfully, Haggar was alone. He felt himself letting out a breath at Shiro's absence, and regretted it, quickly. It was subtle, to the point where he might have even been imagining it, but he could feel her gaze flicker towards him in that instant. It didn't linger long, if at all, before the witch turned her full attention towards Allura.

"Princess Allura," her voice made his skin crawl, even after all this time, "-so it's true. You are alive after all."

Out of the corner of his eye he watched Allura stiffen, tense. "Haggar."

The witch didn't even blink. "Then you've heard of me."

"I have heard that you are Zarkon's witch." Allura said, her voice resolute.

Haggar remained impassive. "I wish to propose a trade."

Lifting her head, Allura stood tall. "And what makes you think we would ever make a trade with the Galra?"

"You will." Haggar stated. "Unless you wish for us to make an example out of your rebel companion."

Stepping forward, Matt narrowed his eyes. "Where's Te-Osh?"

"She is safe," Haggar said simply, "-for now. You have until sundown tomorrow to decide if she is to remain that way."

A day, just barely. Licking his lips, Keith found his voice gone. He wanted to demand where Shiro was, but couldn't bring himself to say anything, nor even draw attention to himself. He could only remained rooted to the spot, his efforts focused on not looking away.

Pidge stepped forward instead. "Where's Shiro?"

"The Champion," a correction, Keith realized, that's what it was, "-is being well taken care of."

The bridge was already thick with tension, but Haggar's words only succeeded in making it even more palpable. Claws digging into his chair, Keith dredged up a bit of fight, leveling a glower towards the witch. Using him for her experiments was fine- but Shiro? Shiro didn't deserve that, not any of it.

He must have been growling, for Allura's gaze briefly flicked back towards him. Quieting himself, Keith sucked in a long breath, using it to steady himself.

Haggar didn't even blink.

"What are your demands?" Allura asked.

"In exchange for the hostage, you have three choices." Haggar stated. "You can give up the lions-"

" _Never_." Allura snarled.

Haggar did not even look the slightest bit fazed by the interruption, and continued on, as if she never had been. "You can turn yourself over to the Galra Empire," and this time, Allura did not interrupt, "-or you can choose to hand over the red paladin."

He was all too keenly aware that all eyes were on him, and it was all he could do to force himself to look straight ahead, not letting his gaze falter. He couldn't afford to look weak. Not now. Not in front of Haggar.

To her credit, Allura barely even flinched. "We will never-"

"Fine."

Truth be told, he hadn't even realized he'd been speaking until the words left his mouth. If everyone hadn't been looking at him before, they were now. Standing up straight, Keith ignored them, instead choosing to continue to look Haggar square in the eye. "Fine. If it's me you want, you can have me."

Turning on her heel, Allura stared at him, open mouthed. "Keith, you cannot-"

Holding up a hand, Keith barely even looked at her. Couldn't, really. "Just give me the rendezvous point, and I'll be there."

"A wise decision." Haggar said. "I will send the coordinates to your ship. Come alone."

Leaving no room for argument, the transmission cut out there. Closing his eyes, he drew in a long breath, using it to brace himself. He had a feeling this wasn't exactly going to earn him a good reaction.

But this was something he had to do.

Pidge broke the silence first. "What are you, _nuts_!?"

"Yeah, Keith," Matt agreed, "-I know you're worried about Shiro, but you can't just hand yourself over to the Galra Empire."

"Look," Keith began, "-I know this isn't the ideal decision-"

"Not ideal does not even _begin_ to describe it." Allura cut him off, "-you are a paladin of Voltron. You cannot simply trade yourself away."

"I'm not-" Keith began, before faltering. Trading himself away wasn't his goal here, but he couldn't exactly deny that was what he was doing. "I can't just leave Shiro there. I _have_ to get him back. This is the only option."

"Okay, hold on," Lance interjected, and for once, Keith was almost grateful, "-I'm definitely missing something here. Why do you care so much about Shiro?"

Swallowing, Keith felt himself tense. There wasn't any backing out of this now. "Because he's my brother."

"He's your..." Lance trailed off, like he was still trying to process what he'd said. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hunk do much the same, the furrow of his brow deepening, like he was trying to connect the dots. "He's your _brother_? But he's- but _you're_ -"

"You're him." Hunk said quietly, sounding almost unsure of himself. "You're Keith Kogane."

Exhaling, all Keith could do was nod.

Staring at him like he had grown a second head, Lance's mouth hung open. "Wait, you're- no, no way. That can't be right. You were a cadet! At the Galaxy Garrison! You can't be- I'm pretty sure someone would have noticed the _purple alien_."

Unable to help himself, Keith frowned. "I'm not _that_ purple."

"I mean, you're more purple than me." Hunk chimed in. "No offense, but Lance does kind of have a point. You don't- you don't exactly _blend in_."

"The experiments," Allura began, her expression considering, yet at the same time, difficult for him to pin down, "-the ones that you spoke of. Do they have something to do with this?"

"That's part of it, yeah." Keith told her, shifting on his feet. "I haven't been entirely honest with you, princess. With all of you."

Allura merely studied him for a long moment. "This Shiro- is he also half-Galra?"

"No." Keith said. "We're not related."

"But he is like a brother to you." Allura stated, something in her expression softening. Understanding. It made sense. She knew what it was like to lose loved ones to the Galra, even if he still stood a chance at getting Shiro back. "I am sorry."

"It's not your fault, princess." Keith told her. "It's mine. I was the one who left him there."

"Keith, you couldn't have known." Matt said.

"I know." Keith admitted, because he did. It just didn't change anything. "But I need to do this, princess. Don't try to stop me."

"Keith, no." Pidge began. "Allura's right, there's got to be a better way."

"Pidge is correct." Allura agreed. "You are a paladin of Voltron. Your life is not one that we can so easily trade away."

Folding his arms in front of him, Keith lifted his head. Right. Maybe he hadn't been clear enough. "Who said anything about a trade?"

Blinking, Allura frowned. "I thought you-"

"Oh," something sparked in Matt's eyes, realization dawning in them, "-oh, it's a trap!"

Smirking, Keith nodded his head. "I can get both Te-Osh and Shiro, and bring them back here. The red lion will come if I call her, that's why it has to be me."

That... wasn't entirely the whole reason, but it was good enough.

"Well yeah," Pidge frowned, "-but we don't know for sure if Haggar will even bring Shiro with her for the trade off."

"Or if she'll even keep her word." Matt added.

"Probably not." Keith admitted. "That's why while I'm distracting her, a separate party can raid the ship. I'm willing to bet that her cruiser has some pretty solid information on it. Maybe we can even find out just what she did to Shiro."

Granted, there was a chance that they could find information about _him_ on that cruiser as well, but that was just a chance he'd have to take. If it meant getting Shiro back, then his secret coming out in the open was worth it.

"It's risky," Allura frowned, "-but it may be our best chance."

"I'm still not sure if I like it." Coran frowned. "Who would this raid party even consist of?"

"Matt and I can do it." Pidge said. "We both have experience breaking into Galra ships. And I think I might be able to work up some kind of cloaking device for one of the pods."

"Okay, wait," Lance cut in, finally finding his voice again, "-so we're just ignoring the fact that Keith used to be human?"

Letting out a snort, Keith rolled his eyes. "I was never human. I just looked like it."

Narrowing his eyes, Lance frowned. "So basically, you cheated."

Staring at the blue paladin blankly, Keith blinked. "I... what?"

"Cheated." Lance repeated. "On the simulator."

"I didn't," Keith began, brow furrowing, "-I didn't cheat."

"Pretty sure being part-alien counts as cheating, but okay." Lance said. "Anyways, if we're doing this to save Shiro, you can count me in."

"And me." Hunk agreed. "I want to help rescue Te-Osh."

"Right," Allura nodded, "-in that case, Hunk and Lance, I want the two of you on standby in your lions. Coran, did we receive those coordinates yet?"

"Yes, princess." Coran told her. "They aren't far from here. We should be able to reach them even without a wormhole."

"Good." Allura said. "Keith, you are certain the red lion will come if you call for it?"

"He's certain." Pidge replied for him. "Trust me. It'll come."

Frowning, Allura looked doubtful. "It is only just... I have never heard of a lion responding to its paladin from such a great distance before. It never happened back in the time of my father."

Blinking, Keith stared at Allura. He'd just assumed that was something any paladin could do. "Are you sure? Because Pidge is right- Red'll come if I call her."

"I'm certain." Allura stated. "But there are still many things we do not understand about the lions yet. My father might have been the one to build them, but I do not think even he fully understood how they work."

Tilting his head, Keith took that information into consideration. Knowing that Red did something for him that she had never done with Allura's father... he didn't quite know what to make of that. Part of him didn't feel like he was worth it. He wished he could say the other part of him thought he was, but no- that part just thought it was because he was abnormal.

An abnormal paladin, having an abnormal effect on their lion.

In the back of his mind, he could hear Red's purr, steady in her agreement that she would come if called for. And even steadier in her disagreement with his own personal assessment of herself. He just fought the urge to snort. The red lion probably understood Haggar's experiments better than he did, but coming from a giant mechanical lion, vouching for his personal character didn't feel like it counted for much.

Not that he didn't appreciate it- it was just... vastly different standards were at work.

But that Red would come if he called her- that he trusted. Implicitly.

A lot of this plan was trust. Enough to make him nervous. But that was why it would work- at least, he hoped it would. Tried to convince himself it would.

Haggar had been inside his head. She knew how he worked, maybe even better than he did. Trust didn't come easy to him. It never had, and it still didn't. Even now, he was hesitant- maybe they would just take this chance to abandon him.

But he had to believe that they wouldn't.

He'd left Shiro once. He wasn't going to do it again. He didn't know what the witch had done to him, but there _had_ to be some way to undo it. He owed that to him.

Right. Speaking of escapes.

"There's one more thing I need to tell you, princess." Keith said, ignoring the fact that there were actually a ton of things he needed to tell her, chief among them the reason _why_ Haggar wanted him in the first place. But not now. Later. "It's about how I escaped from Central Command."

"Yeah, how did you pull that off?" Matt asked.

Glancing towards Matt, he gave him a weak smile. "I had help."

"Help?" Allura blinked. "From who?"

Shaking his head, Keith frowned. "I don't know. All I know is that they were Galra," he began, drawing his knife, holding it aloft, "-and that they gave this back to me."

"Your knife?" Pidge asked. "Come to think of it, you had that when you crashed in my yard."

"It was my mother's." Keith told her. "I think... I think it might mean something."

Taking a step forward, Allura held out her hands. "Might I see it?"

Hesitating for a moment, Keith eventually obliged. He doubted she'd try to take it away from him at this point, however she felt about the Galra. She bore a deep grudge, one that was completely justified, but she wasn't _cruel_.

He didn't know if that would hold up if she knew more about him, though. But then, she had reason to suspect more than most- he didn't know what his own quintessence came across as- he'd lost the ability to sense it when Haggar had changed the nature of it. He just knew that it couldn't be natural.

Taking the knife in her hands, she frowned, tracing the sigil on its hilt, before turning it over to inspect the blade itself. "Luxite was rare, even in my day. There are some who would part with a small fortune for a blade of this craftsmanship."

Arching a brow, Keith tilted his head. "Sounds like you know your stuff."

"It behooves a princess to study many things." Allura merely remarked, handing his knife back. "But I am afraid that I do not recognize it. It's certainly Galran, though."

Taking his knife back, he sheathed it again. "Yeah, kind of figured."

Allura merely gave him a look, taking a step back. "But you are certain your rescuer was Galra?"

"Yes." Keith told her. "I don't know what happened to them after that. I think they were a Lieutenant, though- at least, according to their armor, they were."

"There are some Galra who work with the rebels." Matt said. "Or half-Galra, at least. But I haven't heard anything about any of them infiltrating Central Command."

"Well one did." Keith told him, frowning. It kind of sounded like he doubted him, but that was probably just his own paranoia. "I think that if we find out more about him, we might be able to find some more rebels that can help us."

"I can try asking around." Matt told him. "Who knows? Maybe someone's heard of the guy. Think I could get a description?"

"Just don't ask Keith to draw a picture for you." Pidge quipped.

"What, are you saying mullet here can't draw?" Lance asked, like he'd been waiting for the chance to rib at him. Unable to stop himself, he spun on his heel, shooting a glower towards him.

"Uh, hate to say it Lance, but neither can you." Hunk noted.

"I can draw just fine." Keith grumbled, fighting the urge to growl. "But yeah, I can get you a description."

"We can discuss this later." Allura cut in. "Right now, we should focus on our main objective. Pidge, were you able to get a trace on the call?"

"Oh, uh," blinking, like she had completely forgotten about the tracker, Pidge scrambled to her console, "-yeah, actually. I'll put the coordinates up onscreen."

"I can ask Captain Olia to send a rebel ship to that location." Matt remarked. "Just to check things out."

"Get on it." Allura instructed. "It is possible that Haggar might transfer to another vessel in order to make the trade, so we must be ready. Keith, are you sure about this? I must admit, I am not fond of this plan."

"Yeah, I mean, it kind of sounds like Haggar wants you back." Pidge added. "I don't know if she'll let you go that easy."

He wasn't, not really. But he had to do this.

"I'm sure." Keith lied. "I'll get a pod ready."

Before anyone could stop him, he turned on his heel, marching off of the bridge. The moment he left it, he felt his breathing get easier. He hadn't fully realized just how tense he had been, but he should have guessed as much.

He wasn't... that was a lot more open than he was used to being, especially recently. But if it meant that he could get Shiro back, then it would be worth it.

And if it didn't... gritting his teeth, he tried not to dwell on that _what if_ for too long. It wasn't hard to guess what Haggar wanted with him.

Haggar might have made a monster out of him, but he refused to let her make him into a weapon. At least when he was in control of his own thoughts, he could choose.

Resting his hand over his heart, he tried not to think about the soft _thrum_ he could feel under his skin. Just because he had this power, it didn't mean he had to use it. There were times he couldn't control it, but given the choice, he would never _willingly_ opt to wield it.

Then he really _would_ be a monster.

And he refused to become that.

He refused to let _Shiro_ become that.


	24. rendezvous point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bowing his head further, he said nothing, merely awaiting his new orders. He was the Champion, loyal servant to the Galra Empire, and little else mattered besides that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter, hot off the presses! I wasn't able to get anything done yesterday because I had jury duty, but thankfully I didn't end up having to serve. The glamorous world of adults! Anyways, writing from brainwashed Shiro's perspective was an experience, so hopefully you all enjoy your glimpse into the Champion's mind... finally, a narrator more unreliable than Keith. Lots of set up in this chapter! And an old friend!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading. Stay tuned~!

"The high priestess has requested your presence."

He stirred at the druid's words. He knew that it would be only a matter of time before he was called upon, and was ready to serve. He said nothing, merely standing, which served as acknowledgment enough for the druid. Falling into step behind him, he allowed it to lead him to Haggar.

She awaited him on the bridge of the cruiser. Saluting, hand held over his heart, he bowed his head. "High priestess."

"Champion," she spoke without quite looking at him, "-I have a new task for you."

Bowing his head further, he said nothing, merely awaiting his new orders. He was the Champion, loyal servant to the Galra Empire, and little else mattered besides that.

There were times when things stirred within his mind, but he knew that they were merely signs of weakness, and that he was to promptly report them. When the Galra Empire had found him, he had been weak- but they had seen the potential in him, improving upon what was there until he could proudly call himself the Champion.

That he had little memory of where he came from did not perturb him. If they had been removed from him, it was merely because they served to weaken him.

"I have arranged a trade." Haggar stated. "The rebel for the red paladin."

There was a hint of irony with which she said the words, as if the concept of the red paladin provided her with amusement. He did not question this.

"You will accompany me." Haggar instructed. "The red paladin is spirited, and though he was in my care once, he remains rebellious. He may attempt something."

He did not stir at her words, but did make note of them. He had been informed of the escaped prisoner, whose crimes thus far had proved to be outstanding, even before he had become the red paladin of Voltron. He had been tracking the space pirate for some time now at Haggar's command, but as of yet, he had remained out of his reach.

He had nearly caught his tail after his theft of the Altean princess, but at Haggar's command, he had not pursued. She had sent Commander Sendak after them instead, only for him to fail.

"I will see to it that he does not." He stated, flatly.

"Very good." Haggar said. "Though he may attempt to poison your mind with lies. Be mindful, Champion."

"Understood." He said. "I will not be swayed."

"I am certain that you won't." Haggar stated. "You are free to injure him, if need be, but I require him alive. Perhaps in time, I will be able to... _correct_ his erroneous way of thinking."

He said nothing to that, merely remained as he was, right hand clasped over his heart. He had not been ordered to do otherwise. The power that it provided him with was outstanding- with it, he had subdued any number of opponents. His latest failure frustrated him, but the rebel had been clever enough to determine his target and interfere.

It would not happen again.

Lifting her head, Haggar cast her eyes over him in assessment. "That is all. See to Ulaz. I wish to ensure that your arm is properly in order. When you are finished with him, you are to meet me in the docking bay. We must begin preparations to meet our guest."

"Vrepit sa."

Departing on her command, he navigated the cruiser with practiced ease. He did not care for Ulaz. There was something about the technician that made him feel ill at ease, _weak_. Were it not for the fact that he was doubtlessly the most skilled technician in the Galra Empire, he was certain that Haggar would not have chosen the strange Galra for this post.

He did not dare speak out against him. He was still Galra, of pure blood, and therefore, was still his superior.

The arm he had constructed from him truly was an art. A collaboration with the druids, it was far more powerful than the first, though that too, had served him well. Both were a vast improvement of his original flesh and blood arm, which had been weak, _brittle_.

Replacing both, he thought, would be optimal. He should suggest it to Haggar.

Pressing his right hand against the access panel, he quickly located Ulaz. Though his senses had been improved thanks to Haggar's efforts, they were still pitiful compared to those of a full blooded Galra, so Ulaz located him first. Merely glancing towards him, Ulaz set aside his previous project.

"An inspection, I take it."

"By High Priestess Haggar's command." He felt the need to add, though he doubtlessly knew. "She wishes to ensure that it is in prime condition."

That gaze, he thought, was the reason he did not like Ulaz. Assessing, in the same way Haggar's was, only different in some way that he could not place. "Take a seat."

Doing as he was told, he rested his arm on the platform attached to the examination chair. Without another word, the Galra began to work, linking his arm up to the cruiser's systems, beginning with preliminary diagnostics.

"Have there been any issues?" Ulaz inquired.

"No."

Letting out a low hum, Ulaz typed away. He seemed to posture himself in a manner that made him difficult to read- both in terms of his body language, and his screen's displays. Though Haggar had ensured that he was fluent in the Galra language, it did him little good if he was unable to see them.

But the high priestess would not have someone on board that she did not trust. After the betrayal of the rebel Galra, there had been a substantial purge of Central Command, to ensure that no more such mistakes could occur. Those who remained in the upper ranks had been interrogated by Haggar personally, ensuring their utmost loyalty.

Ulaz was simply strange.

"I can find no abnormalities." Ulaz concluded, banishing the screen entirely. "You should have no difficulties with it."

Watching with one eye as Ulaz disconnected his arm, he idly rubbed his right wrist. A habit, one that he did not appear to be able to shake. When the Galra Empire had found him, he had been sick- but they had made him whole again. Yet the habit did not fade.

It bothered him more than he would like to admit.

Rising to his feet, he clenched and unclenched his right fist. Haggar had told him much about the escaped prisoner- the one who had stolen the red lion from Zarkon. He was part Galra, but did not swear loyalty to his own Empire. She said it was due to being raised in isolation, away from the Galra, that he did not understand what it was that they were trying to accomplish.

He did not understand why he would not choose to join them. Since he had been granted status by Haggar, equivalent to that of a lieutenant, he had been able to move around as he wished- and had gained power on top of that. As a halfbreed, the red paladin would have been granted even further status than him, though his human blood would always prevent him from reaching the highest ranks.

Still, it would granted him untold power and authority. To choose not to wield that- whoever this _red paladin_ was, it was clear that he was a fool.

But he was also dangerous.

He too, had been a subject of Haggar's experiments. Yet though she had sought to improve him, making use of an untapped talent, he proved ungrateful.

He did not understand.

Sometimes his head stung when he attempted to. When it came to the matter of the red paladin, it had once stung substantially- but after he had informed the high priestess of this, she had largely made the issue go away.

Sometimes, however, it persisted.

"That is all." Ulaz stated. "You are dismissed."

Though technicians held no true rank, he nevertheless raised his hand to his chest in salute. Ulaz was Galra, and was therefore superior to him. "Vrepit sa."

Merely giving him a dismissive hum, Ulaz resumed work on whatever it was that he had been tinkering with when he had entered. Not wanting to stay here any further, he made haste to exit, making a beeline for the docking bay, as he had been ordered.

If Ulaz had watched his retreating back, a complicated expression on his otherwise guarded face, he did not notice.

* * *

The Champion, he reasoned, was not Takashi Shirogane.

He was, and he wasn't. Even Haggar, for all her skill, could not completely wipe out the person that had been there before, certain mannerisms and quirks of speech remaining behind.

But the man whose arm he had examined was a far cry from the man who he had once been. When he had first been brought to Central Command, Ulaz had recognized the spark of something in him- what felt like the stirrings of hope in his chest.

Unfortunately, Haggar had noticed that same spark.

He had hoped to enable Shiro's escape before it reached this point. Before his will was lost to the witch's manipulations. To return him to Earth, so that he might search for the blue lion, rumored to be located on his planet.

But Kolivan had other plans.

It was his own reports, in his end, that had served to seal Shiro's fate. Not of Shiro himself- but of another prisoner, one that had kept Haggar's interest for far longer. A young half Galra, brought in from the same planet which Shiro was from, whose connection to quintessence ran deep.

Krolia's son.

Without confirmation, he had no way of knowing for sure. But he knew that Krolia had infiltrated one of the scouting parties that Zarkon had sent out, in the hope that they could prevent him from finding any further lions. She had then disappeared, only to resurface three deca-phoebs later, with the location of the blue lion on her lips, and her blade missing.

Nearly fourteen deca-phoebs later, the scouts sent to Earth returned with a child of the same age- one with deep purple eyes, who carried her blade. His name was _Keith_ , and before setting foot on a Galra ship, he'd no idea of his own heritage.

Ingrained as she was in Ranveig's camp, on the very fringes of the Galra Empire's territory, Krolia had never been informed. Likely on purpose- though she might have left her child behind, he had little doubt that if she were to learn of his fate, she would have torn through Central Command herself in an effort to rescue him.

He nearly wished he'd told her. Perhaps he could have been spared from his fate had he done so.

Kolivan had wanted him dead.

It was not, he knew, a decision his leader had come to lightly. _Knowledge or death_ might be their way, but that was their _own_ creed- they had no intentions of forcing it on those who had not sworn their loyalty to the Blade of Marmora. Keith was no less innocent than any other prisoner of the Empire, but Haggar's experiments had transformed him into something dangerous.

_Monstrous_.

He felt that here he should clarify- the boy himself was not a monster. _Victim_ would be more exact. He was a victim in all this. But the power that Haggar had bestowed him with was, undeniably, monstrous.

Ulaz had only witnessed it used once, but it had been enough. Even among the Galra, he considered himself to be quite old, yet still, he could not determine who the sight had made more ill- himself, or the boy. If he'd had any food in his stomach at the time, Keith surely would have vomited, so perhaps it would be fair to say it would have been him.

It was after that report that Kolivan had decided that he was too dangerous to be left alive. That even if he were to escape, there was no guarantee that such a power could be held in check forever.

No promise that Haggar would never recapture him, and make a weapon out of him. While it was too late to stop the research he had set into motion, there was a chance that his loss would at least slow it down.

The order itself had been given to Thace.

But instead of killing him, Thace had chosen to help him escape, going against Kolivan's orders. If he was caught, he was likely to be killed either way, so best to at least give him a chance, however slight.

None of them could have anticipated that he would have bonded with the red lion. That, in the end, was what had cause Kolivan to rethink his orders. The lions bonded with their paladin's quintessence- so perhaps what he could not do alone, he could do with the red lion at his side.

And he knew that deep down, Kolivan did not want to kill a child. Much less Krolia's.

However, it had come with a cost- freeing Shiro became impossible. Thace had gone into hiding, and Haggar began her hunt for any further traitors within Central Command. His only choice was to bury himself in his work, and do what he could, whenever he could- even if that meant allowing Shiro to disappear inside of the Champion.

He was still there, he suspected. But he was not in a place that was easy to reach.

But he knew that if there was anyone who stood a chance at bringing him back out, it was Keith. He did not know what strange fate it was at work, but he knew that the two held a bond that ran deep- deep enough that even with all of Haggar's meddling, there was still a thread that she could not rid the Champion of.

He could not do anything to change the depth of Haggar's brainwashing. He could, however, install a timed shutdown code in his arm.

It was a gamble, to be sure. But somehow, Ulaz did not think that the red paladin- that _Keith_ \- was coming here simply to turn himself over for the captured rebel. Not after he had spent the bulk of the past year becoming a headache to the Galra Empire and Kolivan alike.

No. If he had agreed to the trade, it was likely that he had some kind of plan.

Now then. Perhaps he too, should begin preparations to disappear. It would not take Haggar long to trace the malfunction back to him. He would much rather not be here when she did.

* * *

"Hey."

"Hey yourself." Pidge replied, without looking up. She didn't need to, she knew it was Keith. "Come to apologize for giving me a heart attack?"

Because she really couldn't put it any other way- when she'd heard Keith agree to that trade, she nearly thought he really had lost his mind. She thought she'd understood just how important Shiro was to him- but apparently, she'd been wrong.

Keith was willing to risk everything just on the slim chance that he might be able to get him back. Even though Shiro... from the sound of it, wasn't _Shiro_ anymore.

"I- sorry."

Okay, she hadn't expected an actual apology.

Actually looking up this time, her eyes fell on Keith. His arms were folded tightly in front of him, clawed fingers digging into the material of his favorite jacket. She suddenly felt strangely overdressed in her paladin armor.

"You're going in that?"

The question slipped out, causing Keith to blink, glancing down at his choice of attire. "What's wrong with it?"

Sure, he'd raided countless Galra ships wearing the effective equivalent of casual clothes before, but this was... this was different. This was _Haggar_ , whose hands he had already suffered at. Sure, she didn't have all of the details- but the physical transformation he'd been forced to endure alone had to have been painful.

"I mean, if you want to _die_."

Keith just frowned. "I can't wear paladin armor. Haggar will just know it's a trap."

Closing her mouth, Pidge frowned. "You don't think she'll suspect you might have backup?"

Something about the way Keith's eyes narrowed at her question she didn't like. "No."

There was a certainty to his reply, and that she liked even less. She felt her frown deepen, Altean wrench hanging loosely from her hands. "Can I ask you a question?"

Arching a brow, Keith merely tilted her head. "You just did."

Rolling her eyes, she fought the urge to groan. She would have expected a line like that from _Matt_ , not Keith. Maybe they had started to rub off on each other, God help her. "You know what I mean."

Shrugging his shoulders, Keith didn't drop her gaze. "Shoot."

"Back on the bridge," she began, wondering if she should even be asking this, "-you said that you hadn't been entirely honest with us."

Keith didn't look away. "I might have."

"So... does that include me?" Pidge ventured.

For a moment, there was nothing but an awkward silence, only broken up by the distant sounds of the rebel ship making preparation to depart. They would be going ahead to check out the coordinates that the call had been made from, just in case Haggar transferred ships for the tradeoff.

"Yeah."

Keith's admission was faint, just barely loud enough for her to hear. She felt her shoulders slump at it- while she had suspected that was the case, actually _hearing_ that much was another thing entirely. It stung, she wasn't going to lie- she thought of Keith as family at this point, so to hear that he was still purposefully withholding information from her... it hurt.

"Pidge, I-"

Cutting Keith off, Pidge shook her head. "Nope. We can talk about this once we get Te-Osh and Shiro back."

Frowning, Keith stared at her for a long moment, before slowly nodding his head. "Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize." She told him.

He really didn't. As much as it stung, when she tried thinking about it from Keith's perspective, she did sort of get it. She didn't know what his time in the foster system had been like, but from the sound of it, it had been unpleasant. That alone would have been enough to foster the development of trust issues, but when she added his time as a Galra prisoner to that, it only amplified them.

So yeah. She got it.

Keith didn't look convinced. "I don't think it's that easy."

Part of her, the analytical part, was already ticking away. Had been, ever since the bridge. She wanted to shut it down, but she couldn't do that either.

Haggar had wanted Keith.

Sure, she'd asked for the lions and Allura too, but she'd also wanted _Keith_. Not any of the other paladins. Just Keith.

She couldn't help but wonder _why_. What about him was so special that made him a fair trade? Te-Osh wasn't _just_ a rebel, she was a rebel _leader_. In the eyes of the Galra Empire, that had to have given her significant value.

Was this all just part of some larger plan? Did she need him to cement Shiro's compliance with the Empire?

Had she done more than just change Keith's appearance?

Keith had mentioned _experiments_. Whatever they had involved, it was clear he didn't want to talk about them. She wasn't stupid, she'd noticed the way he'd frozen up when Haggar had hailed them- he hadn't recovered until she started making her demands.

Freezing wasn't like Keith.

But he'd done it. If she didn't know any better, she'd almost say he was _afraid_.

But she did know better, so she knew that he _was_.

Keith's bounty, and Keith's bounty alone, demanded that he be brought in _alive_. Failure to do so would ensure that no reward was to be given. It was a fact she knew well, for it had been parroted off by countless bounty hunters looking for a quick score, all of whom just as quickly learned that in spite of his slight stature, Keith was no such thing.

Keith was strong, but his combat style focused on speed. Almost like he was afraid of being touched- or to be more exact, of getting hurt. Given how little armor, if any, he usually wore, it was something of a paradox- but that was Keith in a nutshell.

In the few instances he _did_ get hurt, he usually closed himself off in the red lion for hours. He would treat his own injuries, refusing any offers of help. He healed quickly- she just assumed it was a Galra thing.

Maybe it wasn't.

All these facts piled up, but all she could manage to gather from them was the fact that Keith had some kind of value to the Galra Empire. At first she had thought that maybe it was just because of his connection to the red lion, but the more she understood about Voltron, the less likely that seemed.

Keith's bayard didn't work. She didn't think it was actually because it was broken, and she was pretty sure that neither Keith nor Allura bought that either.

He still had it anyways. It hung off his belt, going so well with his general color scheme that it almost looked like it belonged there.

"Just," she began, "-just try not to get yourself killed, Keith. Or captured."

"I'll try." Keith replied.

Pointing her wrench at him, she narrowed her eyes. "I mean it, Keith. I know Shiro's important to you, but there will be other chances to get him back."

He stiffened at her words, and for a split second, she almost thought he might lash out at her. But instead he just drew back in. "We don't know that."

Lowering the wrench, Pidge sighed. "Look, I'd do anything to get my dad back, but there's no point if I just get myself captured in his place."

"It's not just that, Pidge, it's-" Letting out a frustrated noise, Keith looked as if he were searching for the right words. "You heard what Matt said. I don't know what she did to him, but Haggar's using him somehow. I can't- I can't just _leave_ him like that."

_Not when I know how that feels_ , she sensed he almost wanted to say.

And he had a point. She didn't like this situation any more than he did.

"Look, from what I remember of Shiro, I don't think he's the kind of guy who would want to see his baby brother throw himself into danger just to save him." Pidge stated.

Keith just stared up at her. "I'm not his _baby_ brother."

And in spite of herself, she couldn't help but snort. "That's the part you're taking offense to?"

"I'm eighteen, Pidge." Keith stated flatly. "I'm not a baby."

"Fine. His _little_ brother." Pidge said.

Keith squinted. "Are you saying that because-?"

"I could just throw this wrench at you, cancel this whole dumb plan on account of you being out cold." Pidge stated, waving the wrench in question. "So shut up and just accept the fact that I'm concerned about you, dumbass."

Keith deflated a little at that, before finally cracking a faint grin. "Okay. I'll try."

"Try to accept my concern or try to stay safe?" Pidge asked.

"Both." Keith told her. "Look- Haggar's tricky. So I want you and Matt to be careful. If you see trouble, get out. No amount of information is worth either of you getting hurt."

She opened her mouth to say something, but just as quickly shut it. She couldn't exactly coerce Keith into promising he'd be careful if she didn't do the same herself. "Promise."

Satisfied with that, Keith nodded his head. "How long until you get the pod ready?"

"Just another few ticks." Pidge replied. "You know, if you weren't distracting me."

Keith just snorted at that. "Please. I've seen you work under pressure. I don't think you can even _get_ distracted."

"I will take that as the compliment I am hoping you meant it as." Pidge simply stated.

"I definitely meant it as a compliment." Keith stated, and for the life of her, she couldn't tell if he was lying or not. "Good luck, Pidge."

"Good luck yourself." Pidge told him. "Sounds like you'll need it more than me."

Letting out a low hum, Keith merely inclined his head. "Mine hasn't exactly always been the best."

She couldn't exactly dispute that.

* * *

"Everything's in order, princess. I'm ready to launch whenever."

Back stiff, Allura didn't allow any of her anxiety to show on her face. There was no denying how risky this plan was, but it was also the best one they had. Instead, she remained composed, not letting any of her doubts show as the paladins began briefing her on their status, one by one.

She stood on the bridge of the Castle, monitoring the paladins' status through the use of screens. The rebel ship had already departed, and they should be reporting back to her in a few doboshes. They were to keep their distance upon arrival- assuming that there was anything at those coordinates to keep their distance _from_.

But the thought of sending one of the paladins into certain danger... it did not sit well with her. The fact that the paladin in question was Keith did not change that.

His quintessence might be... _strange_ , but if there was one thing that he had proven to her, it was that he was worthy of the red lion. She was not keen on the fact that he had lied to her, and was very likely, still leaving out key details, but he had shown through his actions that she could trust him in spite of all that.

If he were planning on betraying them, he would have done it long before this.

She did not want to lose him- nor any of the paladins, really.

But she could not abandon Te-Osh either. And now that she knew that this _Shiro_ was so important to Keith, she could not simply ignore his situation either. Of course, provided that he had simply not chosen to join the Galra Empire willingly- but she was skeptical that someone Keith held in such high regard would do such a thing.

His brother.

She wished she had told him that sooner. She knew all too well what it was like to have loved ones ripped away from the Galra Empire. She could only hope that he could get him back.

Not simply Keith either- but Pidge and Matt as well. She hoped that they were able to find their father, wherever he might be. Just because _she_ had lost everything to the Galra, did not mean she resented them for the fact that they had a chance to get what they had lost back.

Or nearly. Matt would not get back the time he had spent in prison, nor would his father. And Keith... Keith would likely be unable to get back his former appearance.

She didn't know what it was, though presumably more human than he was now. It was strange- when she had first met him, she had difficulty seeing anything but the Galra. But now that she had spent time with him, it was easier to see the _human_ in him- the ways in which he matched up to the Holt siblings.

If this mission went as planned, then at the very least, he would be able to get back someone important to him. She would not begrudge him that.

So instead, she faced Keith, looking him straight in the eye. "Good. You may launch when ready."

"We'll be right behind you, buddy." Matt reported. "I mean, you won't be able to see us, but we'll be there."

"The cloaking is operational, then?" Allura inquired.

"Up and running." Pidge reported. "There's an access hatch on the underside of the cruiser. We should be able to enter from there."

"I installed a magnetic docking system." Matt reported. "Not really that pretty, but it should hold the pod in place so we can get back to it once we pull the information we need. Worst case scenario, we can have either Lance or Hunk triangulate our positions and come and get us."

"Aw yeah, the old smash and grab." Lance said.

"The old... smash and what?" Allura asked, her brow furrowing.

"Just an Earth phrase." Hunk supplied. "Anyways, the yellow lion is in good condition. Took a bit of blaster fire in that last assault but man, the armor on this thing is _tough_."

She couldn't help but smile at that. "The yellow lion always did have the toughest armor."

It could get even tougher, but that would be something Hunk would have to discover on his own. Much like Keith had unlocked the red lion's railgun, the other lions all possessed hidden powers of their own, that no amount of her guidance could enable the paladins to use.

Come to think of it, she still had not informed either Lance nor Hunk about Zarkon's status as the former black paladin. Though she was loathe to speak of it, the others already knew, so it was not as if it was something she could keep from them.

Perhaps she had no right to be upset with Keith for lying.

"Well, the blue lion's ready and rearing to go too." Lance reported. "I think I got the hang of her after that last fight."

Snorting, a wry grin crept it's way across Keith's face. "You sure? Because I distinctly remember that you nearly fired at Pidge."

"Okay, so _maybe_ I didn't have the greatest control on the whole _laser tail_ then," Lance said, "-but I do _now_ , so. Shut your quiznak, mullet."

Allura, in spite of herself, blanched. Who had even taught Lance a word like that? Even if he wasn't actually-

"I don't think you're using that word correctly." Keith noted.

Yes. Thank you, Keith. He very much was not.

"I don't think you're-"

Clearing her throat, Allura cut in. "Right. As I said, Keith, you may launch when ready."

Giving her a curt nod of his head, Keith's expression remained decidedly neutral. "Right. Prepping for departure."

His screen went dark, and she swallowed.

"Princess," Coran spoke up, "-we're being hailed. It's the rebel ship."

"Good," she said, "-bring it up."

Captain Olia's face took center stage, pushing the rest of the paladins to the side. Clasping her hands in front of her, Allura made sure that she was fully composed before responding. "Captain Olia. What is your status?"

"No sign of any ships at this location, Galra or otherwise." Olia reported. "But we are picking up traces of a hyperspace trail."

"So Haggar took her cruiser with her." Allura noted, her brow furrowing. In which case, it was highly likely that she had this _Shiro_ with her. "Thank you, Captain."

"We can rendezvous with the blue and yellow lions." Olia reported. "Provide some cover fire for the red lion for when it makes its escape."

"Understood." Allura said. "Thank you."

"No, thank you, princess." Olia told her. "For trying to get Te-Osh back."

There was a weight to her words- she sensed that they did not often get many of their number back once they had been captured. She just hoped that she did not let them down. Already, Te-Osh's band of borderland rebels were proving to be a great asset.

As for the possible Galran rebel Keith had brought to her attention... well, she was not as loathe to consider it as she thought she would be. Her time with Keith had served to remind her of something she else wise would have been like to forget- that once upon a time, the Galra had been their allies.

And though many had chosen to betray her and her people, others... others had not.

She feared that they had likely all been destroyed alongside Altea. But who was to say that there were not those who carried on their wishes?

"We will do what we can." Allura told Olia. "You have carried on the fight that my people were unable to. We owe you our thanks."

"Just the fact that we might have a shot at reforming Voltron is thanks enough, princess." Olia told her.

Bowing her head, Allura only hoped that they actually could. They might have gotten the yellow lion, but now that she was sending another paladin into danger, she could not help but feel uncertain for the future yet again.

And they still had yet to find a new black paladin.

That, she thought, could not stand.


	25. like brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Shiro lifted his arm to his chest, clenching his fist over his heart, Keith felt his blood run cold. He had to fight the urge to cover his ears- no, no, he didn't want to hear this, he didn't want to hear Shiro say that, he couldn't-
> 
> "Vrepit sa."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, here's the next chapter! Thankfully I manged to finish it before I cut my finger like an idiot with a peeler while unloading the dishwasher, but no harm done- just a bit difficult to type with the bandage on. My terrible secret is revealed! I am, in fact, super clumsy. Alas. That said, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, because I know I did~!

"I have a visual on the Galra cruiser."

"Copy that." Pidge's said, reminding him with an anxious sort of relief that he wasn't actually alone. "We do as well."

Exhaling, Keith tightened his grip on the controls. The small Altean pod made him feel nearly defenseless. He hadn't had the time to check, but he was pretty sure it didn't have any weapons.

Didn't matter. If Haggar wanted him, he doubted she'd shoot down his ship. Landing wouldn't be the problem- it would be everything that followed.

Already he could feel his skin crawl, as if sensing the witch's presence. Placing a hand over his heart, he closed his eyes, trying to steady himself. He couldn't let her get to him, not now- not when he had come this far.

He'd be getting Shiro back.

Eyes snapping open, he felt the red lion's soft purr in the back of his mind. It provided him with some small reassurance, a reminder that even if he was heading into danger alone, that he wasn't truly alone

Right. He could do this. Positive thinking.

Steeling himself, Keith drew in a long breath. Opening up a line to the Galra cruiser, he braced himself to face Haggar.

"So you've come."

Her voice still made his skin crawl, like nails tracing against his skin, a phantom sensation that he'd much rather forget. He had to fight back the urge to vomit, a surge of unpleasant memories threatening to crash over him. Even from here, he swore he could smell the odor of death that clung to the witch.

Or maybe that was just him.

But instead of showing that, he just straightened his back. "I said I would. Where's Te-Osh?"

"She is here." Haggar stated, but made no move to display the hostage- not that he thought she would. "We will be waiting for you, red paladin."

The words were spoken with amusement, as if she found the notion of him being the red paladin funny. The worst part of it was that she was right- she understood what he was better than even he did, so for him to have been accepted by a lion of Voltron, and the pickiest one at that... it was hilarious.

In the back of his mind, Red purred. _Paladin_.

Heaving a sigh, Keith let his shoulders relax. He knew. Maybe he still had trouble grasping it, but the red lion had chosen him for a reason. He had to believe that. He had to _keep_ believing that.

He wouldn't be handing himself over to Haggar. He wouldn't be handing _anything_ over to Haggar- only taking. He'd take Te-Osh back, and he'd take Shiro back too- and if he got the chance, he'd gladly take her life.

But somehow he didn't think he'd get that lucky.

Shiro.

He sure hoped he was ready to face him. From the way Matt had described him, he wasn't sure he would be able to get through to him in words.

If he didn't recognize _Matt_ , what hope did he have of recognizing him?

* * *

"Do we truly intend to trade the prisoner?"

He was not one to question the high priestess' orders, but he was under the impression that there was to be no quarter given to rebels. And this sounded a lot like quarter being given.

"She matters not." Haggar stated, tone dismissive. "All that matters is the red paladin."

The rebel in question- _Te-Osh_ , if what the human rebel had shouted was accurate- remained unconscious. She had been given a strong dose of a sedative, that would likely keep her out for several more varga. They could not risk her coming to the aid of the red paladin, which she surely would, given her choice to sacrifice herself for both the sake of her fellow rebel, and what had surely been the yellow paladin.

She was clever, so he was loathe to let her go. He did not know how she had been able to discern his intentions, but she had stalled him long enough to allow the yellow paladin to connect with his lion- and no matter how much power the Galra Empire had granted him, he was not likely to survive a bout with one.

He had elected to cut his loses and retreat with the rebel. But his failure ate away at him.

He would not fail again, not this time. Whatever tricks the red paladin had up his sleeve, he would not allow him to carry them out.

"Once we have the red paladin in our grasp, the red lion will soon be ours." Haggar told him. "It will come for him."

"You seek to tame the red lion?" He questioned.

"I seek to tame its paladin." Haggar merely stated. "He has been rebellious thus far, yes, but I believe I can bring him to an understanding. He will lead us to the other four lions, and we shall bring them back to Emperor Zarkon ourselves."

"Perhaps, Champion," Haggar spared him a look, "-he will even grant you the honor of flying one yourself. Once the remaining paladins have been dealt with, of course."

Flying a lion of Voltron in the service of his Emperor. There would be no greater honor, yet it was one he could only feel unworthy of.

He could still recall that he had been a pilot once, in another life. Before the Empire. The best there was on his planet of primitives. Under Haggar's guidance, he had become even better. But to fly a Voltron lion... such an honor should be given to a true Galra, not to a mere servant of the Empire, such as himself.

Even the red paladin, halfbreed as he was, did not deserve the honor.

Still.

Clenching his fist against his heart, he bowed his head. "It would be my honor to continue to fight in service of the Empire."

Haggar almost seemed to smile at that, the edges of her eyes crinkling. "Good."

"Now," her attention fixed on the Altean pod, its sleek white and blue design making it stand out in the hangar as it landed, "-let us greet our guest."

"Vrepit sa."

Standing at full attention, he waited. The Altean pod landed with precision- it would seem that the rumors of the red paladin's skill as a pilot were true. A strange feeling bubbled up in his chest at that thought, but he was unable to place it, so he merely opted to ignore it. He could report it to Haggar later.

The cockpit of the pod flickered, before it faded away completely, revealing its pilot. The red paladin stood to his full height- quite small for a Galra, even for a halfbreed. According to Haggar, he was not completely finished with his developmental cycle, which perhaps explained both his short stature and his rebellious nature.

But it was not the height that caught his attention the most.

It was the way he went rigid at the sight of him.

His brow creased, unable to understand the reaction. They had never crossed paths before, not directly. They had been held, briefly, on the same ship- Central Command, before Haggar had opened his eyes to the glorious mission of the Galra Empire.

Eyes. He did not know why, but for some reason, he had briefly thought that the paladin's should be purple. They were not- his were a proud Galra feature, glowing steadily in the dim light of the hangar, a vivid yellow without any visible pupil.

Something stung.

Whatever the red paladin saw in him, it was not enough to keep him frozen for long. Instead he swallowed, leaving the pod with his hands held in the air, as if in surrender. He was not unarmed- there was a knife worn at his back, and an object that he could only assume was a bayard dangling from his belt.

It looked different from the one his Emperor carried.

His impure blood made itself apparent in the largely pale color of his skin- he was speckled purple in places, but otherwise was more of a pale earth tone. He had heard once in passing that the halfbreed had been plucked from the same primitive planet on which he had once resided, and looking at him, he could believe it was true.

Something stung.

His voice, when he spoke, was unsteady.

"Where's Te-Osh?"

Haggar did not so much as blink, only lifting a hand. "Bring her."

The sentries complied, dragging out the unconscious rebel. The halfbreed narrowed his eyes at the sight of her, his head fur bristling. "I thought you said she was alive."

"Rest assured, I intend to keep to keep my end of the bargain." Haggar stated. "She is alive, merely unconscious."

Frowning, he lowered his arms slightly. "I want to check."

"Champion," Haggar began, "-show the red paladin the prisoner."

Once again, the red paladin seemed to freeze, his breath hitching in his throat. He thought nothing of it, merely grabbing the rebel from the sentries that held her, half dragging her unconscious body to present to the red paladin as he watched on in horror.

He seemed to mouth something, silent and voiceless.

Then he shook it off, crouching down in front of Te-Osh. Checking her pulse with a surprising amount of gentleness, he exhaled as he found it. Swallowing, he rose to his feet, visibly avoiding looking at him.

It was a paradox.

From what he had heard of the red paladin, he was filled with fire, carrying with him its destructive force. For having a crew of only two, his space pirate operation had carved a comparatively large swath of destruction in its wake. He took risks, fought with reckless abandon, and left Galra cruisers listing in empty space after taking them for all that they were worth.

He had even felled a Commander or two.

But this... there was no fire here. _Steel_ , perhaps, but no fire.

Something stung.

"Her condition is to your satisfaction, I assume." Haggar spoke.

There was the fire. It flickered in his gaze, directed at Haggar, like a furious inferno. "Yes."

"Then we have an agreement?" Haggar asked, but he knew it was not a question.

"Yes." The red paladin repeated. "As promised, I will surrender myself."

Haggar seemed to consider his words for a moment, before lifting a hand. "Load the rebel into his ship. We shall have it return to the Castle of Lions on autopilot. I trust that you do not have an issue with that?"

Clenching his fists, the red paladin didn't tear his gaze away from Haggar. "No."

Inclining her head, the pair of sentries stepped forward. Handing Te-Osh over to them, he returned to Haggar's side, not missing the way the red paladin seemed to exhale once there was distance put between them, even if the paladin himself did not seem to notice.

Tossing Te-Osh into the Altean pod, one of the sentries set the autopilot. No sooner than had it removed itself from the cockpit, did it enclose itself once more.

Once the pod was gone, something in the red paladin's demeanor seemed to change. And there, he thought, was the fire again.

The luxite knife he possessed cut through the sentries with practiced ease, but the knife he had thrown in Haggar's direction had been deflected with just as much ease. She did not so much as blink, even as the red paladin removed his knife from the chest of a still sparking sentry, pointing it towards her.

"I'm taking Shiro back too."

* * *

"Uh, princess? There's a pod leaving the cruiser."

Looking at the images of the radar map that Lance was feeding her from the blue lion, Allura's lips twitched into a frown. There was indeed a pod leaving from Haggar's cruiser- the same one that Keith had arrived in.

"See if you can do a biometric scan." Allura said. "It may be Te-Osh."

In which case, the initial exchange had gone off without a hitch. The thought should have been comforting, but it only managed to unsettle her. Since when had dealing with the Galra ever been this easy?

Either there was some kind of a trap in this- or it was simply testament to just how much Zarkon's witch desired Keith. Given that she had apparently conducted experiments on him, it certainly raised more than its fair share of questions.

But more importantly, she was concerned for Keith.

If this _Haggar_ truly wanted him so badly that she was willing to keep to the letter of her word, what did that mean for him? She could not imagine that she would simply allow him to escape, especially not with another presumed subject of her experiments. As much as there was a tiny, needling part of her that loathed the idea of comparing him to her father at all, she was fully willing to believe that the new red paladin was likely half as stubborn as the old.

In other words, she doubted he intended to leave without Shiro, no matter what he might have said.

She simply hoped that the red lion had a bit more sense, were that the case. She had sensed how deeply it cared for its new paladin, and the more she learned about Keith, the more she felt she understood that. Although the red lion was notoriously picky, she was also the most loyal- once she had committed to a paladin, that bond was difficult to break.

The red lion likely sensed what she sensed- the warped quintessence of its chosen paladin. Unlike her, it likely was aware of what that meant, but whatever the case, it would be enough to know that Keith, was in some way, fundamentally broken. Perhaps... perhaps it was even providing him some form of stability, though she could not say for sure if such a thing was possible or not.

But then, there was much about the lions they did not yet understand.

"I think it _is_ Te-Osh." Lance's voice crackled over the coms, breaking her out of the reverie her thoughts had cast her into. "And I think she's unconscious."

"Is she alone?" Allura inquired. She didn't need to ask if she was alive. The scan would have picked up on that if she weren't.

"I'm not detecting anything else in the pod." Lance told her. "Or anyone."

"I can access the pod remotely." Coran piped up. "See what's going on."

"Do it." Allura instructed.

Typing away at his console, Coran frowned. "It appears to be on autopilot. Following the route it took back, more or less."

Heaving a sigh, Allura's shoulders slumped. At least that was one bit of good news, however apprehensive it made her.

Still, it was possible that Haggar yet intended to doublecross them.

"Hunk," Allura began, "-escort the pod back to the Castle. There is still a chance that Haggar might intend to destroy it en route."

"Can do." Hunk said.

"Good." Allura said. "Lance, remain where you are. Has there been any other movement?"

"Nope, no movement yet." Lance told her.

"Pidge?" Allura asked. "How are things on your end?"

"We were able to access the ship." Pidge reported. "Matt and I are making our way to the command module now. No sign of anything out of place."

Exhaling, Allura still frowned. So far, everything was progressing as it should. But she could not allow herself to relax- she could not call the plan a success until Keith had returned to the Castle of Lions with his brother in tow, at which point, they could begin to work out just what it was that Haggar had done to him to get him to follow her orders.

And she hoped, perhaps, that Keith would open up a bit in regards to just what Haggar had done to _him_ as well.

"Let me know if anything changes." Allura instructed. "Remember, we do not have a line in place to contact Keith. Pidge, Matt, the two of you are our only way of knowing if something has gone wrong on the cruiser."

"Copy that, princess." Matt told her. "We'll keep an ear out for any alarms."

"Good." Allura said. "Take caution."

She just prayed things continued to go as smoothly as they were. But she knew that was not realistic- a confrontation was inevitable.

They were already still missing a black paladin. She could only just pray they would not have to start searching for a new red paladin as well.

* * *

"I'm taking Shiro back too."

Maybe if he spoke with resolve, Haggar wouldn't see right through him.

But it was too late, he knew. His voice had already trembled when he'd spoken first. He'd frozen up the minute he'd stepped out of the pod- before that, even. She knew. It was hard to have dignity in the face of someone who had used you effectively as a guinea pig.

But he still had it.

Even if the sight of Shiro made his blood run cold.

He'd heard from Matt, but it was worse than he could have ever imagined. That wasn't- that wasn't Shiro. He might have Shiro's face, but that _wasn't_ Shiro. This was a stranger, taking the place of his brother.

He hadn't even faltered at his own name.

But Shiro _had_ to be in there. He _had_ to believe that. He wouldn't have... he _couldn't_ have given up so easily. Not the Shiro he knew. Not the one who had told him once that he would never give up on him- and that he should never give up on _himself_. He didn't know what Haggar had done to him, how she had managed to brainwash him, but he refused to believe that there wasn't a way to return him to normal.

It wasn't even a matter of positive thinking, so much as it was downright _denial_. He hadn't come this far to back out now. He was getting Shiro back.

It took everything in him not to simply lunge for him the moment he'd stepped out of the pod. Shiro wasn't his only goal here, and getting Te-Osh secured was just as important. So he had controlled himself, just as long as it took to get Te-Osh on that pod and off of the cruiser.

Even if he failed here, at least they would be able to take away one victory. Two, if Matt and Pidge succeeded with that data download.

"I suspected you try something like this." Haggar observed. "But there is nothing left for you to take back."

It was a taunt. A lie. It had to be. Either way, he refused to believe it.

Gripping his knife tighter, Keith narrowed his eyes. All he needed to do was incapacitate Shiro, and call for the red lion. Even Haggar wouldn't be able to stop him then.

Even if he still wasn't sure if he was ready to fight Shiro, brainwashed or not.

"I'll be the judge of that." Keith shot back. "I don't know what you did to him, but I'm not letting you use him any longer."

Haggar looked unperturbed, probably already under the belief that her victory was assured. That she would end this day with two living weapons, not just one.

Like hell.

"High priestess," he felt a shiver run down his spine at the sound of Shiro's voice, so familiar, yet so distant, _cold_ , "-shall I subdue him?"

This wasn't Shiro, Keith thought. It wasn't him, so he'd be able to fight him.

Yeah, he didn't buy that either.

Lifting her head, Haggar looked down at him. "Yes."

As Shiro lifted his arm to his chest, clenching his fist over his heart, Keith felt his blood run cold. He had to fight the urge to cover his ears- no, no, he didn't want to hear this, he didn't want to hear Shiro say that, he _couldn't_ -

"Vrepit sa."

Gritting his teeth, Keith heard himself growl. Anger, frustration exploded out of him at once, born on the edge of his knife. Lunging forward, he already knew his strike wouldn't reach Haggar, but he still wasn't totally prepared for Shiro to block it.

Matt had mentioned the arm- made of dull metal, gleaming the pink-purple color of tainted quintessence where it flowed through, like some kind of a power source. It had been constructed to look Galra, with claws that made his own look like they were just vaguely sharp nails. It churned his gut to see, like a piece of a monster sewn on to someone he cared about.

Matt hadn't said anything about the built-in _sword_.

It gleamed pink-purple in the dim light of the hangar, twisting Shiro's visage further. It caught the edge of his knife, locking it in place, their strength equal.

But Shiro had more mass, more _bulk_ , and in a stalemate like this, that would win out in the end. Breaking contact, Keith quickly put some distance between the two of them. He didn't want to drag this out- the faster he finished, the better.

He really, _really_ didn't want to fight Shiro.

Shiro lunged towards him, barely giving him time to react. He was fast- faster than he remembered. The arm probably wasn't Haggar's only so-called _improvement_.

Blocking his sword strike with his knife, Keith felt his feet give a bit. They were matched in strength, but Shiro's added mass gave him more momentum- and he couldn't stand up to that. In other words, keeping his distance wasn't a good idea either.

He was starting to realize this might be bad.

He was fast and agile, but this situation didn't give him a chance to put that to good use. No to mention, all he had was a knife- he'd only brought the one spare. There was his bayard, but he wasn't putting his faith into being able to _use_ it.

He didn't realize he'd been hit until the wind was already leaving his lungs.

The force of the blow sent him backwards, barely able to catch his footing. Shiro didn't give him any time to rest, already launching another attack, one that he barely had time to avoid, rolling out of the way. Resting a hand over the pit of his stomach, he gasped for breath.

One of his ribs was broken. Possibly more.

Yeah. This was bad.

He could feel his heart throb, a familiar tingle creeping up the back of his spine. Beneath the dark fabric of his shirt, he felt a hot glow burn at his chest, the steady _thrum_ growing louder. But he forced it back- not here, not now. He wasn't using this power, not like this. He knew that he could heal a broken rib or two if he just let himself use it, but he couldn't. _Wouldn't_.

Not while Shiro was here.

Not while _Haggar_ was here. He had too much of her quintessence in him already. It didn't convert, not fully, not in the way that it should- and he shuddered at the thought, at the way he had phrased it like it was something _natural_.

There was nothing _natural_ about being able to drain quintessence.

"Shiro," he gasped out, realizing that no, he definitely could not do this, he didn't _want_ to do this, "-come on. We don't have to do this."

Shiro merely stared him down, gray eyes cold.

"I don't know any Shiro."

* * *

The red paladin's movements were not what he had hoped for.

Before he had elected to serve the Galra Empire, he had been a gladiator, fighting for glory in Emperor Zarkon's arenas. It had been how he had earned the moniker of Champion, undefeated in the ring.

There were times he still found himself itching for a good fight.

He had expected to get as much from the red paladin. His reputation preceded him- but what he got instead was a combatant who clearly wished he were somewhere else.

It was the ultimate insult.

Combat was the guiding light of the Galra Empire, one that burned away all imperfections, a view that he had come to embrace. His strength in battle were what had allowed him to rise up in ranks, from a lowly prisoner, to Emperor Zarkon's Champion. Indeed, that strength had allowed him to burn away his own imperfections- anything that had been cast aside in the process only served to make him weak.

And yet, the red paladin was telling him he didn't wish to fight.

Leveling his energy blade at the halfbreed, his eyes narrowed. "I don't know any Shiro."

His words were the truth. He knew no such person. He failed to see what the red paladin would gain from his resistance. If he were searching for this _Shiro_ , he would not find him here. Better to surrender himself, if he did not wish to fight.

Watching as the red paladin rose to his feet, he took in a long, shaky breath. He had felt something snap when he had slammed his knee into the paladin's stomach, but it would not hinder him for long. He was designed to heal quickly.

He braced himself, expecting to feel the pull of his quintessence leaving him, only for it not to come. Narrowing his eyes, he stared down at the red paladin, perplexed.

He was holding it back.

It was baffling. It was the one attack that he would be unable to defend himself from, yet the paladin chose not to use it, even after sustaining an injury that would hinder his ability to fight.

Instead he pressed a hand to his side, keeping his grip on his knife tight with his other. "Shiro," he gasped out, almost seeming to _beg_ , "-please."

It was then that it struck him that Shiro was _him_.

Something stung.

_"-looks like the only one left is-"_

He fought it back. He did not know what trick the red paladin was using, but he would not allow it. He was the Champion, a loyal servant to the Galra Empire. That was the only thing that mattered.

He was not Shiro.

"I am the Champion," he stated, "-and I fight in the name of the Galra."

Gritting his teeth, a hint of the red paladin's fire flickered across his face. "No you're not, and no, you don't." He hissed. "You're Takashi Shirogane, of Earth. And you're not that kind of person."

Dropping his hand from his side, the red paladin lunged forward. It caught him off guard, allowing the paladin to return his earlier favor. If he had been as strong as a pure Galra, he might have been in danger, but the paladin's blow only served to crack his ribs, not even breaking them.

It did not suffice to uproot him from his stance.

The second the paladin recognized this, he attempted to put some distance between them, but it was already too late. Banishing the energy sword, he grabbed him with his right hand, smashing him into the ground. The paladin raised his blade to strike, but he stomped on his wrist with his foot, a howl of pain ripping itself from his lips.

Something _burned_.

The red paladin was in pain. _Keith_ was in pain.

He blinked, and the thought was chased away. Haggar had allowed him to use force, and he had no qualms in doing so. The paladin's name was of no importance.

He was just an enemy he needed to defeat. Like countless others he had before.

"Haggar warned me that you would speak lies." He hissed.

Grunting, the red paladin grabbed his right arm with his free hand, glowering up at him. "They're not lies."

They were, he knew.

_They're not_ , some tiny part of him whispered, and he narrowed his eyes at that. Perhaps there was some truth to his words- perhaps in his old life, he had known the red paladin. But it did not matter- whatever his old life had been, he had chosen of his own free will to let go of it.

It made him weak, and was therefore unnecessary.

"Shiro, _please_ ," the paladin gasped out, his voice raspy, "-it's Keith."

"I know your name, paladin." He stated, unfazed.

The paladin twitched at his words, glower fading into a pained expression. Just as quickly, resolve set itself in his place. Bracing his foot against the pit of his stomach, he forced him back, gasping for breath the moment he was free of his grip. Staggering to his feet, he switched hands, his already pale face even paler.

For a brief moment, he felt the earlier expected pull, a faint sensation of exhaustion hitting him as his quintessence was pulled out from his body. The paladin's eyes went wide, almost frightened- and at once, the pull halted, as abruptly as it had started.

So he _was_ holding it back.

Narrowing his eyes, he summoned the energy blade again. "If you do not wish to fight, then surrender."

The request felt strange on his lips. Normally, he would simply overwhelm his opponents, but for whatever reason, he simply wanted to end this, rather than _bring_ an end to it.

"I don't want to fight you, Shiro." The paladin said, using that name again. He was stubborn with it, insistent, even. "But I'm not leaving here without you."

"You," he began, stepping forward, "-are not going anywhere!"

Lunging, he angled his blade at the paladin's lower torso. He doubted the small amount of quintessence he had stolen earlier would have been enough to heal his broken ribs, so he would strike there, compounding the previous injury.

It would ensure his victory.

The paladin was already moving to deflect, but it was too little, too late. His luxite knife would not be enough to protect him.

For a split second, he felt a strong pull on his right arm, like there was something holding it back- only for it to simply shut down. Sword flickering, the glow of his arm's quintessence dimmed, rendering it lifeless at his side. What-?

_Ulaz_.

The paladin appeared to be just as confused by this turn of events as he did, but he didn't hesitate to take advantage of it. Stepping inside of his guard again, he slammed his knee into his chin, with enough force to send him staggering back.

The next blow, to his head, was enough to render him unconscious.

In his last moment of awareness, he expected to feel frustration at his unseemly defeat. To loathe Ulaz for his treachery, for his arm failing him had to have been his work.

Instead, he simply felt relieved.

* * *

Swallowing, Keith forced himself to take a long breath, though it pained him to do so. Honestly, it was taking almost all of his concentration to keep the quintessence drain in check, but the alternative was worse, so he resisted it. Once he was secure in the red lion, he could give in, but he refused to take it from a living person.

Especially not Shiro.

Even if Shiro wasn't _Shiro_ anymore.

He didn't understand what had just happened, but whatever it was, it had given him a chance. Clutching his side, the crackle of electricity was all the warning he got, before a surge of it was sent his way.

So Haggar wasn't letting him rest.

That was fine. The red lion was already on her way.

He just hoped she was faster than Haggar's temper, because it was clear she was _pissed_. Of course she was- there was no way she had expected this outcome.

But he was getting out of here, _with_ Shiro.

Rolling to dodge the bolt of lightning, he grabbed Shiro by the shoulder. He was pretty much dead weight, including his metal arm- and in his condition, that made him heavy.

But he wasn't leaving him. Hell no.

The red lion's roar reverberated through his skull.

_Paladin_ , she said, _I am here_.

Just like that, Red took both him and Shiro in her jaws- and a sizable portion of the hangar with it, leaving Haggar's second blast to crackle harmlessly off of the lion.

"Good kitty," Keith muttered, fighting the urge to just fall over right there, "-let's roll."


	26. truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Groaning, Keith rested his head against the back of his chair. Right. Allura. That was another problem. She hadn't said anything, but he really wasn't going to put his faith into believing that she hadn't noticed anything amiss. That wasn't positive thinking, that was just straight up denial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with the next chapter! Everyone's back at the Castle, safe and sound- but are they really? Only time will tell! I'm so proud of Keith in this chapter... that's my boy! That said, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next chapter!

She made haste to the red lion's hangar. She did not pause to make her steps more graceful, but rather moved with purpose. It had been the pale color of Keith's face when he had made contact, the labored manner of his breathing, that had her quickening her pace, leaving Coran in the dust behind her.

She was glad to hear that he had escaped, and with Shiro at that, but she did not need to be a trained medic to know that he was in poor condition. As she thought, Zarkon's witch had refused to let him go without a fight.

Hunk and the rebels were with Te-Osh, having already taken her ahead to the medical ward once her pod had landed. It appeared that she was simply unconscious, likely knocked out with a sedative of sorts. In hindsight, she realized that she should have asked Coran to go ahead and prepare a pod, but she could inform him once he caught up.

No matter how fast the red lion was, it would not be quick enough to arrive at its hangar before she made it there.

The firefight between the Galra cruiser and the remaining two lions had been brief, for which she had been grateful. The blue lion had laid down covering fire for the red lion's escape, lingering behind to ensure that Pidge and Matt were able to return to their pod and vacate the vicinity before leaving. They were both now safely on their way back to the Castle.

The pair of siblings had been able to extract information from the ship's command module, though she did not yet know if it would be useful. As they had been pressed for time, they had simply opted to download the information wholesale, rather than attempt to sort through it.

All that remained was Keith.

And Shiro, she supposed. Perhaps she should tell Coran to prepare _two_ pods- until they knew what they were dealing with, the safest option would be to temporarily freeze him. It would be too dangerous to allow him the freedom to wander the ship.

It was a thought that plagued her with guilt- if he was truly being manipulated, then it wasn't treatment he deserved. Yet that was even more reason to ensure that he could harm no one- if this was someone that Keith was willing to go to such lengths to rescue, then she was hard pressed to imagine that they were the sort of person who wished others pain.

In spite of her haste, she wasn't even the slightest bit winded upon arriving at the red lion's hangar. The same could not be said for Coran, when he finally caught up with her- but he was rather well on in years, older even than her father, if only by a few deca-phoebs.

"Coran," she began, "-do you think you could prepare a pair of pods?"

Coran merely blinked. "Of course, princess. I did notice our red paladin looking a bit worse for wear. I was about to suggest it to you before you blitzed out of there faster than an angry klanmuirl."

The edges of her mouth curled up at the comparison. "I would not say I was going quite that fast."

"Ah, perhaps it's just my old bones then." Coran mused, idly tugging on his mustache. "I take it you will be alright here, then?"

"Quite." Allura assured him.

That seemed to satisfy the adviser, and he made a quick promise to have both pods up and running by the time the red lion arrived. Watching him go, she felt a sense of fondness wash over her- truly, she was grateful that she was not alone.

With that matter taken care of, she turned on her heel, gazing upwards. Being in the red lion's hangar brought with it a sense of painful nostalgia, that she tried not to focus on. The last time she had been down here, it had been when her father was still the red paladin.

Though he had been on the Castle for just as long, Keith had not quite made the hangar into his own yet, unlike Pidge had with hers. The green lion's hangar was already filled with various equipment, to the point where Allura could have sworn that she had been on board the Castle for deca-phoebs, rather than the span of a few movements, if that.

In fact, the only thing worthy of note within the hangar was the red and white hoverbike that he had brought back from Earth. It had been polished until it shone, fresh paint applied to where it had been peeling. Briefly, she caught herself wondering when Keith had even found the time.

It shouldn't surprise her- he did tend to be the mysterious type. She found herself wondering if that were by choice- or if he had simply created this distance in order to protect himself. She was starting to lean towards the latter.

She did not have to wait very long at all for the red lion to arrive. Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, she watched as it landed, narrowing her eyes at how unsteady it seemed. Keith, she had learned, was an excellent pilot, so any deviation from that was worrisome.

Something felt... _off_ , beyond that.

The red lion landed with a firm _thud_ , crouching. She held her breath, expecting Keith to come out, or at the very least, to open the hatch- but neither occurred. Frowning, she took a step forward, intent on breaking open the lion herself, if she had to.

It was only then that the red lion's jaws finally parted, and she froze in place. As if there had been some kind of barrier between her and it before, the feeling of something being off became less distant, more prominent- to the point where it made her skin crawl. The last thing she wanted to do was focus on the nauseating sensation, but she forced herself to, confirming what she feared- that it was leaking out from within the red lion.

Steeling herself, she strode forward, though the sensation grew stronger with each step. By the time she had reached the ramp, it had become almost unbearable- and then just as suddenly, it stopped.

She felt, she thought, just a tad tired.

"Keith?" She called out, knowing she sounded a bit uncertain.

"Just," Keith's voice sounded a little too weak for her tastes, cracking a bit as he spoke, "-just give me a tick."

Frowning, Allura lingered. From the bottom of the ramp, she could barely see inside the cockpit, if at all, yet she could not resist the urge to try and look.

Whatever was going on in there, she did not have long to wait. One hand pressed firmly against his left side, Keith emerged from the red lion's cockpit, the unconscious form of a human slumped over his shoulder. He seemed to struggle a bit under their weight, and she made haste to ascend the ramp, taking the man by his other arm.

It was beastly, the arm she took. Wrought of metal and clearly Galra, she had to wonder if this were one of the witch's experiments.

It looked monstrous.

The man himself was... truth be told, she was not sure what to expect from this Shiro. The patch of white hair at his forehead did not look natural, even at first glance, and the scar that stretched across the bridge of his nose seemed to tell a story of its own.

"Coran has pods ready in the medical ward," Allura began, "-for the both of you."

Keith flinched at that, his eyes disappearing behind his bangs. "Thanks, but I don't need one."

"Your breathing is off," Allura noted, ears twitching as she picked up on the subtle sound of it, "-you very much need one."

"I mean it." Keith insisted. "Just give me some time alone in the red lion, and I'll be fine."

Brows drawing together, she opened her mouth to protest, but quickly shut it. Keith had opted to look up once more, and there was something almost... _pleading_ in his gaze. Though she had only known him for a short while, he was not one to usually beg, so if he were resorting to such a method, then she could only imagine he was quite serious.

"Very well then." Allura said, though she still felt unconvinced. "But once you are done, I want you to let Coran give you an exam."

"Fine," Keith agreed, but was quick to add, "-as long as it doesn't involve needles."

She almost found humor in the notion that the half-Galra was apparently afraid of needles, but given the circumstances, she could only imagine that said fear was quite well founded. Instead, she opted to change the subject. "I take it this is your brother."

He actually cracked the faintest of smiles at that, something fond in the crease of his brow. It was an expression she hadn't seen before, and suddenly, she found herself wishing she had. "Yeah. This is Shiro."

The expression didn't last long, quickly faltering. "Shiro's body, at least."

Her own face falling, Allura glanced at the man out of the corner of her eye. As unfamiliar with humans as she still was, it was not hard to determine he was a bit older than her paladins- though younger still than Colleen. He was clad in Galra armor, and she shuddered to look at it, unable to imagine how Keith bore it, knowing how much he despised the Empire.

She wondered, briefly, what it was like to so resent one half of your own blood.

"I do not wish to make you promises that I may not be able to keep," Allura began, "-but I _will_ promise you that we will do everything in our power to set things right."

Keith ducked his head again, only giving her a small nod. She keenly got the feeling that he was unused to people keeping their promises. "Thanks."

She managed a weak smile. "Now, let's see if we cannot get your brother to the medical ward."

Stiffly nodding his head again, Keith pulled his hand away from his side, so he could use both arms to support Shiro's weight. She suspected that she could carry him on her own, but she sensed that he felt the need to do this himself.

In truth, she was surprised that he had even so much as accepted her offer of help. Dimly, it occurred to her that she in fact had not asked, not truly, but Keith had made no move to reject her either.

That was... progress, she supposed. For the both of them, really.

With Keith's injuries, getting Shiro to the medical ward took time. She feared that he might perhaps regain consciousness in the time it took, but he remained out cold. By the time they arrived, the rebels had cleared out, though Hunk remained, waiting for them together with Coran.

He took one look at Keith, and hurried to help.

Without asking, he carefully took Shiro's other arm, relieving Keith of his burden. The half-Galra briefly opened his mouth to protest, but instead firmly shut it, his hand straying to his side again.

"Right," Coran frowned, "-let's go ahead and get him into a pod."

"Are you sure this is safe?" Hunk asked. "Because, no offense Keith," he said, gaze briefly flickering back towards the red paladin, "-but he was kind of crazy brainwashed the last time I saw him."

"Still is." Keith muttered.

"Allura and I slept in those pods for ten thousand years!" Coran remarked. "I'd say they're pretty secure!"

"Hm, yeah, that is a good point." Hunk admitted, helping her stand Shiro upright in the pod. "So... what next?"

"First we concentrate on healing the physical." Coran said, tugging on his mustache in thought. "After that, we can deal with the mental."

"He called himself the Champion." Keith reported, and she did not care for the way he leaned against the wall, shifting his weight entirely off one foot. "Didn't recognize his own name. He said he fought- he said he fought for the Galra Empire."

Hunk winced, giving him a sympathetic look. "I mean... at least he's back now, right?"

Keith just nodded, opting not to say anything.

Letting out a breath, she watched as the cryopod sealed itself shut, frost starting to creep up the edges of the glass. It was not the ideal solution, but she would prefer to err on the side of caution. Keith gave the cryopod a wary gaze, but opted to remain silent.

"Right," Coran said, "-now for you, Number Four."

Keith just blinked, looking up at him. "I'm fine. It's not that bad."

Opening his mouth to protest that, Coran caught her eye. Shaking her head, he quickly clamped his mouth shut. Hunk also looked as if he wanted to say something, to which she responded with an even more pointed look. It caused him to flinch, but he seemed to get the message.

She did not like the idea of allowing Keith to forgo medical treatment, but she prayed that he at least had the sense to seek it if he truly needed it.

"Go on then," Allura told him, "-off with you."

"You'll let me know if anything changes?" Keith asked.

"Of course, my lad." Coran told him. "Don't you worry about a thing."

Nodding his head, Keith departed without another word, hand still firmly pressed to his left side. She watched him go with a deep frown on her face, only exhaling when she was certain he was well out of range of hearing.

"Are you sure we should have done that?" Hunk asked. "Because he kind of didn't look good."

"No," Allura confessed, "-but we cannot force him either."

"Well, at least Shiro here doesn't seem to be too badly off." Coran remarked. "Though his quintessence levels seem a bit off."

"Off?" Allura blinked. "Off how?"

"Yeah, and what's quintessence?" Hunk asked.

"Life force, you could call it!" Coran replied, wrapping up what she had not yet explained to either the yellow or blue paladins, now that she thought of it, in a neat little bow. "And his levels seem a bit on the low side. Granted, I'm not that familiar with your human physiology so perhaps that's simply normal."

"That is... concerning." Allura said, unable to help but recall that nauseating sensation that had poured out of the red lion's cockpit. Nor the way she had felt slightly tired afterwards.

She did not like the direction of her own thoughts.

"Uh yeah, that does kind of sound bad." Hunk said.

"Oh, he should be fine after a few vargas in here!" Coran was quick to reassure them both.

Accepting that, Allura turned her attention towards Te-Osh. She was resting on a cot, one of her legs wrapped with bandages. "How is she?"

"She'll be fine." Coran assured her. "It seems the Galra did some rudimentary first aid on her leg wound- just enough to keep her from bleeding to death. I'd put her in a pod, but that might not mix well with the sedative she was given, so we'll just have to let her heal the old fashioned way."

Nodding her head, Allura let out a breath of relief. So far, things had gone well- save for the matter of Keith's injuries. That was less than ideal.

Still, she could not help but worry that things had gone _too_ well.

"I should probably go check on Lance." Hunk spoke up.

Looking towards him, Allura gave him a grateful smile. "Yes, of course. The two of you did well today, Hunk."

"Thanks, but I kind of didn't do much." Hunk admitted. "Which, don't get me wrong, I'm happy about, but... all I ended up doing was escorting Te-Osh's pod back here."

"Still," Allura told him, "-just because nothing went wrong did not mean that something couldn't have. So yes, you did well."

He seemed to glow a little at the praise, making a somewhat bashful exit. She couldn't help but smile at it- she was already growing rather fond of this new yellow paladin. Were Gyrgan alive, she was positive that the two would have got on well.

In fact, she could picture all of the previous paladins getting along well with their successors- even Keith and her father, to her surprise.

She was not as repulsed by the thought as she thought she would be.

* * *

Sinking back into the pilot's seat, Keith closed his eyes, for a moment doing nothing more than bask in the red lion's soothing energy. Her low purr, the warm air of the cockpit... he felt some of his held tension start to slip away as those elements intermingled- and with it, his control.

He'd briefly lost it earlier, relief having crashed over him like a wave. He hadn't been able to stop it- with the Castle of Lions in sight, it had sunk into him that he had really succeeded. That he had made it out of there, with Shiro. That he was _safe_.

It had taken him longer than he would have liked to get a handle on it, but he'd still been able to get it under control before the worst happened. He had just bet his life to rescue Shiro- he didn't exactly want to become the cause of his death. Once it got like this, there was no controlling where he took it from, or how much- he'd drain it until he was healed. Sealing himself inside the red lion until he was better was the safest thing to do.

Exhaling, Keith felt his ribs slowly begin to heal themselves. His right wrist, crushed in the battle earlier, had already largely healed from his earlier slip, but now even the lingering bruises were starting to fade. Opening his eyes, he watched as the color returned back to normal, experimentally clenching his fist.

Drawing in a long breath, he did it without pain this time. The throbbing in his side was starting to fade, bones setting themselves back where they were meant to be. All the while, the red lion continued to purr, reassuring him that she was alright- it would take a lot more than this to even put a dent into her quintessence.

Even before he'd learned the legend of Voltron from Te-Osh, he'd always known that the red lion was something else. His bond with her was like a safety net- what gaps there were in his control, she made up for.

Taking in a long breath, Keith carefully tested his ribs. They had completely healed, like they had never even been broken.

Control returned.

"Thanks, Red." Keith muttered, idly stroking her controls with one hand. "Don't know what I would do without you."

The red lion seemed to prickle at that, reminding him how he had planned to run off without her as soon as he got the chance. Grimacing, Keith knew she had a point. All he had been thinking about was how he didn't deserve to be a paladin, not the potential consequences of his actions.

Which... well, wasn't exactly unusual for him. At least he wouldn't be around people he was afraid to hurt.

And that was the root of the issues. Instances like this proved just how fragile his own control was- and while healing a few broken ribs and a snapped wrist probably wouldn't be enough to kill anyone, it would still leave them in a weakened state.

He had seen what this power could do. Even if he wanted to forget, he couldn't. _Wouldn't_. He might never know the names of the test subjects, the living sacrifices, but he'd never forget their faces- dried up and shriveled, every last drop of quintessence sucked out of them.

He'd done that. Maybe he'd been _made_ to do it, but he'd still done it.

The red lion purred, soft and reassuring, as if trying to soothe him. He knew his thoughts were probably a mess right now- he'd just had to fight _Shiro_ , for crying out loud! No matter how brainwashed he was, it didn't change the fact that he'd had to hurt his own brother, the one person who had stuck his neck out for him when he'd deserved it the least.

Hell, he'd stolen his car, and he'd responded by convincing his parents to foster him.

He let out a dry chuckle at that. First he steals Shiro's car, and then he steals _Shiro_. Matt was right- he hadn't changed, he'd just leveled up. Somehow he didn't exactly think Shiro would be all that proud of the fact that he had become a space pirate, even if he _did_ steal from the bad guys.

(Well, mostly.)

_If_ they ever got Shiro back.

Sure, he was here physically, but _mentally_? He shuddered, trying not to dwell too long on the way Shiro had sworn allegiance to the Galra Empire so easily, as if it were natural.

The Shiro he knew would never join them- not out of his own free will.

The fact that he didn't even recognize his own name was proof of that. Sure, he'd hadn't recognized _him_ either- but it had been five years since they had seen each other, just about, and he'd kind of undergone some changes since then. He hadn't exactly been counting on it.

He didn't even know what he'd do if they _did_ get Shiro back.

Sure, Matt had reassured him that everything would be alright- and he wanted to believe that. But at the same time, that was before they knew that Shiro had been brainwashed by Haggar, and turned into a living weapon.

Why would he ever let another Galra into his life after that?

Staring down at his hands, Keith clenched his fists, drawing in a long breath. Sitting here and wallowing in self pity wouldn't change anything, and besides, he was trying to think positive, even if he was shit at it.

He'd done what he'd set out to do- he'd gotten Shiro back. Now he just had to trust that Allura could find a way to help him.

Allura.

Groaning, Keith rested his head against the back of his chair. Right. Allura. That was another problem. She hadn't said anything, but he really wasn't going to put his faith into believing that she _hadn't_ noticed anything amiss. That wasn't positive thinking, that was just straight up denial.

_Tell her_ , Red prompted him.

"Easy for you to say." Keith mumbled. If he told Allura, he'd have to tell _all_ of them.

_Tell them_ , the red lion prompted again, _or the witch will._

Grimacing, Keith knew Red had a point. It was a miracle he'd gotten out of this _without_ that tidbit of information going public- and he still didn't know if Shiro knew about it or not. The _real_ Shiro would never blurt out something so private, but the Champion... yeah, he might just do it.

Scratching his head, Keith made a frustrated grumble. Right. If it was bound to come out in the open anyways, it might as well be of his own choosing.

* * *

"Keith!"

Pidge brightened at the arrival of the red paladin, making no effort to hide the relief that washed over her features to see him in one piece. Hunk had painted a pretty worrisome picture, so even if she knew that his behavior was business as usual, she couldn't help but be concerned.

Today had been anything _but_ business as usual.

Sure, they'd broken into a Galra ship to steal data. That part was normal. But the part that left Keith to fight someone he viewed as family? That wasn't.

She didn't miss how strained his grin looked, even as he affectionately ruffled her hair. "Hey, Pidge. How'd data collecting go?"

"Perfectly." Pidge preened. "Matt and I are still analyzing it. There's a ton of data, so we're probably looking at an all nighter."

"We're thinking of asking Hunk to help." Matt supplied. "Glad to see you're back on your feet though. Hunk made it sound pretty bad."

"Just a few broken ribs." Keith shrugged, brushing it off like it was nothing. "Nothing I can't handle."

Brows knitting together, she stared up at Keith. "And I assume you're fine now?"

"Wouldn't be here if I wasn't." Keith simply said. "Where's everyone else?"

Right. He'd been so unusually open as of late, she'd nearly forgotten that Keith's main character trait was being an enigmatic asshole. She didn't know why, but she'd just assumed that the trend would continue, but from the look of it, he was back to normal.

"Coran's still in the med bay." She said with a slight sigh. "Allura's finishing up some business with Olia. They're going to transfer Te-Osh to one of their own treatment facilities."

"They're taking some medical supplies with them. I think Hunk's lending them a hand." Matt piped up. "Probably roped Lance into it, too."

Frowning, Keith shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "Oh. Guess they're all busy then."

Arching a brow, Pidge tilted her head. "You sound disappointed."

"I just-" Keith began, before stopping short, folding his arms in front of him. With a blink, she realized that he was withdrawing into himself, uncertain, even _hesitant_. "I wanted to tell them something. Something important."

Oh. _Oh_. Guess the trend wasn't over.

"But they're all busy so," Keith half-mumbled, ducking his head, "-I guess... I guess it can wait."

"No, you know what," Pidge cut in, "-I'll go get them."

Blinking at that, Keith looked up. "Are you sure? They all sound-"

"I'm sure." Pidge insisted. "You want to talk to us, right? Then we can _make_ time."

That didn't seem to provide him as much relief as she thought it would, and it dimly occurred to her that he had probably subconsciously been looking for a way out. It wasn't hard to guess what he wanted to talk about- if it wasn't about Shiro, then it was bound to be about himself.

So instead, Keith just chewed on the inside of his lip, giving her a stiff nod.

"Hey," Pidge grinned, elbowing him in the side- the one that he hadn't been favoring earlier, according to Hunk, "-for what it's worth, I think you're doing the right thing."

"I'm pretty sure Shiro would agree." Matt mildly supplied.

Keith flinched a bit at his voice, like he'd kind of forgotten he was here. He didn't say anything, just nodded again, his movements stiff as he took a seat on the opposite end of the couch from her brother.

"You just stay right there." Pidge told him. "I'll go get everyone."

Making her way towards the door, she paused, glancing back towards Keith uncertainly. "You did want everyone, right?"

"I- yeah." Keith said. "Thanks, Pidge."

"Hey, that's what family's for, right?" She asked.

Keith just stared at her, causing her to let out a huff. How much was it going to take to drill it into him that that's what they were? Sure, maybe not by blood- but in every other sense, Keith was like family to her. A second older brother.

Maybe whatever he had to tell them... whatever Zarkon's witch had done to him- it was bad enough to make him fear that just knowing about it would cause them to turn him away. That was stupid- whatever Haggar had done to Keith, it didn't change who he was as a person- that was something she already knew well.

Reckless, but with a strong sense of justice- space pirate or not. Temperamental, but also gentle- the kind of person who was afraid to let people in, but also cared deeply for them at the same time.

A paradox.

So whatever he had to say- whatever dark secret he'd been hiding- it wouldn't change anything. Not for her, at least. She had only gotten this far because of him.

She paused, wondering for a moment if she should say that- but she got the feeling it would be better to hear Keith out first. Otherwise, his doubts would never be alleviated. So instead she gave him a quick grin, before ducking out of the lounge, intent on rounding everyone up.

Keith had chosen to be honest with them- to come clean. It couldn't have been an easy choice for someone whose default was talking as little about himself as humanly possible. She also knew him well enough to know that if they didn't do this now, he might just change his mind and keep the truth sealed until someone exposed it for him.

So yeah- she'd make damn certain they made time for him.

* * *

"We have searched the ship. Ulaz is nowhere to be found."

Haggar narrowed her eyes. This had not been in her plans.

That the red paladin would attempt to escape with the Champion, she had expected. Their connection was strong, but she had not expected that he would be able to succeed. That same connection would make him reluctant to fight, hesitant, and while that had gone exactly as she had anticipated, the sudden failure of the Champion's arm had not.

It would seem that she had failed to get rid of all of the rats.

"Shall we search the surrounding systems?" The sentry asked.

"No need," Haggar said, "-I know where our spy is headed."

"Contact Commander Sendak. Tell him to set a course for planet Arus." Haggar instructed. "Let us see if he can redeem himself."

The paladins' interference with her plans had been unexpected- but they too, would be dealt with soon enough. And for his treachery, she would force the red paladin to watch.

* * *

Family.

It wasn't the first time Pidge had said something to that effect, but her words felt heavier than usual. He felt a bit guilty, not being able to return the feeling- it didn't feel right, claiming her and the rest of the Holts as family, not when he hadn't been entirely honest with them.

Sure, he hadn't become this way by choice. He hadn't _asked_ those scouts to abduct him, hadn't asked Haggar to experiment on him- he hadn't even asked to be born. But it still felt wrong.

They should know he was a monster before deciding he was family, he thought.

Biting down on his lip, he tried to shove that thought aside. No, he wasn't doing that- positive thinking, positive thinking.

Ugh. He _was_ shit at this.

"Hey," Matt spoke up, causing him to blink, "-you okay?"

Blinking at the question, Keith frowned. "Like I said, they've healed."

"I didn't mean that." Matt told him, before seeming to almost reconsider. "Though that's good to hear too. I mean... how are you holding up? You had to fight your brother, that has to be rough."

Opening his mouth to say that Shiro was just his _foster_ brother, he quickly shut it. Maybe there was no actual blood connection between them, but he still selfishly regarded Shiro as his brother. He knew he shouldn't- after all the Galra had done to him, what right did he have to claim family ties when he himself was Galra?

He'd been abducted, held prisoner, forced to fight for his life and then finally brainwashed and turned into a weapon- at this point, what _hadn't_ the Galra done to him?

"I'll be fine." Keith lied.

Matt knew it, too. Maybe he wasn't the best at reading people, but he could tell that much. He didn't say anything though, for which Keith wasn't certain if he was grateful for or not.

They sat in slightly awkward silence, Matt tapping away at his laptop. He'd brought it back with him from Earth. Pidge's lay abandoned next to him.

Maybe this was a bad idea, Keith caught himself thinking. He'd just started to find a place for himself, and now he was about to throw it all away.

Red's low purr became louder at that, reassuring him that wouldn't happen. He tried to believe it. It was just... he'd spent more time thinking negatively of himself than he had positively, so it was hard to get back in the swing of it now.

It felt like an eternity before Pidge finally returned, paladins and Alteans alike in tow. It dimly occurred to him that he'd said _everyone_ , so he'd been afraid that maybe Olia and the rebels would be tagging along too, but they weren't. He wasn't ashamed to admit that their absence caused him to breath a sigh of relief.

He was barely even ready to share this with _Pidge_ , nevermind the rest of the paladins.

It was Allura who spoke first, her smile ever diplomatic. He hated it- hated the way he couldn't read her. "Pidge said you wished to speak with us?"

(But he didn't hate Allura. That just made this harder.)

No backing out of this now, he guessed.

Getting to his feet, Keith opened his mouth- only to find that nothing came out. Closing it, he quickly nodded, drawing in a long breath. It was fine. He could do this. He was only telling them his most closely guarded secret. No big deal. It wasn't like a large portion of this group were people he'd only known for a few weeks, if not for a few _days_.

No matter how short, they had all managed to worm their way into his heart- even if just by a little. Pidge had created the first gap, and from there, the others had started to sneak in, just when he thought he'd closed it off for good.

He didn't hate Allura. He didn't hate _any_ of them- even Lance, who he was pretty sure just flat out didn't like him.

"Well," speak of the devil, Lance just had to go and open his mouth, "-you gonna spit it out or what? Some of us don't have all day, mullet."

Gritting his teeth, Keith leveled a glower at the blue paladin. But at least his interruption helped him find his voice again.

"There's something I've been keeping from you," he began, "- _all_ of you."

Allura didn't even blink. He wished she did. "We're listening."

Shoulders tensing, Keith braced himself for whatever reaction his words would earn. If Allura were to demand that he leave... he'd do it. At least he knew Shiro would be safe here. He'd done what he'd set out to do, he couldn't ask for anything further.

"I have- _had_ \- a sensitivity to quintessence." Keith began, quickly correcting himself. "That was what drew Haggar's attention to me in the first place."

This time, Allura did blink. "Had?"

"Quintessence is that life force stuff, right?" Lance asked, and he had to bite down on his lip, to keep himself from being annoyed at the interruption. It was a fair question. "Hunk told me about it."

"In essence, yes." Allura stated.

"It's also what the Galra Empire uses as fuel." Pidge noted.

"Wait, they use life forced as _fuel_?" Hunk asked. "Because uh, that's kind of creepy."

"No offense, but can we discuss that later?" Keith cut in. "This isn't easy for me to talk about."

He tried to pretend that Hunk's words hadn't stung. _Creepy_ , huh.

"Of course," Allura said, looking understanding- _for now_ , some darker part of him supplied, "-go on."

"Like I said, I had a sensitivity to quintessence." Keith continued from where he had left off. "I'm going to be honest and admit up front that I don't understand everything, but what I _do_ know is that for the past ten thousand years, the Galra Empire has been mining quintessence from the planets they've conquered."

"Like... what, like they mine for ore?" Hunk asked.

"Pretty much?" Keith frowned, uncertain. He didn't know the exact method they used- it wasn't like anyone ever told him, and he'd never exactly bothered to find out for himself later. "Like I said, I don't know everything. All I know is that they've been searching for a more efficient way of getting it pretty much since then."

Allura's brows narrowed, but her expression remained purely contemplative. "And this Haggar felt you could help with that?"

Resisting the urge to duck his head, Keith forced himself to meet their eyes. "Yeah. That was the subject of her experiments- she made use of my quintessence sensitivity to advance a bigger project of hers. She called it the _komar_ , I think."

"I," Keith began, his voice catching in his throat, "-so she- I can-"

Growling in frustration, Keith narrowed his eyes. Why was just this part so hard to say?

"Look, maybe it's better if I just show you." He finally got out, already unhooking his belt. Pidge reached to take it without so much as a second thought, and he couldn't help but glance her way- she looked... encouraging, and that gave him the confidence to go through with what he was about to do.

Shrugging off his jacket, he moved to remove his shirt, ignoring Lance's remarks to the point where he didn't even bother to listen to them. Didn't matter. The second he saw his chest, he'd understand.

There was a reason he stuck with dark clothes. Though dim, they were about the only thing that could hide the faint glow of the runes that Haggar had etched into his chest, like a scar over his heart, marking him as something _other_.

This time, he couldn't resist the urge to duck his head.

"I can drain quintessence."

He didn't dare look up, all attempts at thinking positively forgotten. He didn't want to meet anyone's eyes, to see the revulsion that had to be there. Now they knew. Now they would know why having him around was such a bad idea, why it had to be some kind of mistake that he was the red paladin, why they would all be better off without him.

_Liability_ didn't even begin to describe it.

"Keith," Allura breathed, her voice almost a whisper, "...those runes, they're... they're _Altean_."

...what?


	27. blades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drawing in a long, shaking breath, Allura steeled herself, meeting the half-Galra's eyes. If this was true, then the ones who had inflicted such suffering, such horror onto him were not the Galra- but rather, her own people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update time! Yesterday was Thanksgiving in America, so I hope those of my readers who celebrate that had a good day and got to eat lots of good food. As for everyone else, I hope Thursday treated you well! As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter! We're getting to some pretty exciting stuff soon, that I can't wait to write!

"I can drain quintessence."

She barely even heard those words. Instead, her gaze was fixed on the runes that had been inscribed onto Keith's chest, etched by a steady hand into his flesh. She felt the color drain from her face, not because of what he had just confessed, but because she _recognized_ these symbols.

"Keith," she hadn't even realized that she was speaking until she heard her own voice, and at that point, she could no longer stop herself, "-those runes, they're... they're _Altean_."

Her mind buzzed. How could that be? Altean magic should have died out generations ago, with the rest of her people. Even if some had survived the destruction of Altea, she doubted Zarkon would have been satisfied until he'd hunted every last one of them down.

So to see it here, now... it made no sense.

Except it _did_ , a dreadful thought occurring to her. There was one Altean who had been unaccounted for- and if what had befallen Zarkon was any indication, then she was almost positive that she was still alive.

Honerva.

"Altean," Keith's voice was quiet, as if he were still trying to digest what she had said himself, "-how... how could these be _Altean_?"

Drawing in a long, shaking breath, Allura steeled herself, meeting the half-Galra's eyes. If this was true, then the ones who had inflicted such suffering, such _horror_ onto him were not the Galra- but rather, her own people.

How could she possibly ever begin to apologize for that?

"I-" Allura began, but she did not get a chance to finish.

"Princess," Coran's own tone was strained, but she had no time to question if his thoughts had taken the same direction hers had or not, "-we appear to be receiving a transmission."

Allura briefly glanced at Keith, a look which he returned- anxiety still lingered, but confusion had by and large taken its place. She could not blame him. What she had said must have truly thrown his thoughts into chaos.

But she couldn't ignore someone hailing them either.

Tearing her gaze away from Keith, Allura leveled it instead on Coran. "Who is it?"

"That's just the thing." Coran told her. "I don't know. I don't recognize these signals."

"Well, you guys _have_ kind of been asleep for the past ten thousand years," Matt piped up, "-and things have kind of changed since then. Maybe I could take a look at it?"

"Excellent idea, Number One." Coran remarked.

Sparing a brief glance towards Keith, one that Allura read as sympathetic, Matt made his way towards Coran's side, eyes scanning the readout. "Okay, I... actually don't recognize this signal either. Pidge?"

Startled, Pidge scurried to her brother's side, staring at the readout with a deep frown. "It's not anything I've seen before either. Which, given my experience, is probably a good thing."

"If Pidge hasn't seen it, then I probably haven't either." Keith noted, having already tugged his shirt back on, and was currently in the process of pulling on his jacket. Now that the moment had passed, he looked more perturbed at being interrupted than anything.

They could always talk later- and they would. She imagined he had just as many questions for her as she did for him.

"You don't think it's that creepy witch lady again, do you?" Hunk asked.

"Her transmission was on a standard Galran frequency." Pidge informed him. "This signal is being bounced around through so many different back channels that I have no way of determining exactly where it might be originating from."

"Could it be rebels?" Lance offered. "Like, maybe they've heard Voltron's reforming and they've come to help us kick butt?"

"If it is, it's not any frequency I recognize." Matt said.

"Well yeah, but you were what, with the rebels for like a year?" Lance asked. "Maybe there's some you don't know."

"Yeah, and during that year, I spent time working in a communications hub." Matt said. "If it's a rebel signal, I should know it."

"Okay, yeah, good point." Lance admitted, holding up his hands. "So uh... what should we do?"

"We answer it." Allura said. "Coran, head to the bridge and prep defenses just in case."

Coran gave her a firm nod. "Yes, princess."

Drawing in a long breath, Allura squared her shoulders. "Alright. Open a line."

Hesitating for a second, Matt eventually complied. Bringing up the feed from the call on the lounge's main monitor, he froze at the image that appeared on the screen.

They all did. But only Keith drew in such a sharp intake of breath, a fact which she only dimly registered.

She did not recognize the make of the ship they were being contacted from- if it even was a ship, and not some kind of stationary base or satellite of some kind. All she knew is that it was set to a backdrop of the stars, so whatever it was, it was likely not planet-bound.

But that was largely irrelevant due to who it was that was calling.

Galra- a pair of them, at that.

They did not wear anything to indicate rank and file, and in fact, their armor was not of a kind she recognized. But the two were unmistakably Galra, and it occurred to her that save for their brief contact with the Commander known as Sendak, she had not yet seen any Galra since she had woken from cryosleep.

At least, not any _full_ Galra, she thought, glancing towards Keith. His mouth was set in a tight line, but otherwise, she could not read his expression.

"Princess Allura," the Galra in front was the one to speak, and she was briefly taken aback by how formal his tone was, "-so the rumors are true. You survived."

There was no malevolence in his tone, but she could never be too cautious. Given the timing, it was far too possible that this was some kind of trick.

"You have heard correctly." Allura stated, keeping her tone as neutral as she could manage. "I am Princess Allura, of Altea. Who are you?"

"I am Thace." The Galra- _Thace_ , she supposed- introduced himself. He held himself with the kind of composure that one of Zarkon's upper ranks surely would have had, though he decidedly lacked the air of superiority. "With me is Ulaz. We are with the Blade of Marmora."

The Blade of Marmora? She tried to think, hoping to recall if she had ever heard of such a group before. While she was certain she hadn't, part of her still felt as if she should.

Still, a feeling would not suffice. "I have never heard of this _Blade of Marmora_."

"Princess," Keith spoke, swallowing, as if he were uncertain of his own words, "-wait. Thace, he's- that's him. He freed me."

Blinking, Allura tore her gaze away from the screen long enough to stare at Keith, open mouthed. Quickly shutting it, she narrowed her eyes. "You are certain?"

Keith didn't dare say anything, instead simply nodding his head. Narrowing her eyes, she regarded the half-Galra for a second longer, before she fixed her gaze back on the pair of full Galra, acting as if she had never even momentarily lost her composure.

Part of her felt uncertain about this, but she did not believe that Keith would lead her astray, not on a matter such as this.

Galran rebels.

Such a thing was bound to be possible, she supposed. She would have thought that in ten thousand years, Zarkon would have crushed any opposition to his regime from his own people, but it was not impossible that some pockets of it remained.

Thace's gaze lingered for a moment longer on Keith, before he returned his full attention to her. "We have information that may be valuable to you."

"Information?" Allura asked. "What sort of information?"

"About the one known as Champion." Ulaz spoke.

Baring his teeth, Keith growled. "Don't call him that."

Ulaz merely only spared him a glance, whereas his reaction caused both Lance and Hunk to momentarily flinch. Perhaps to the Galra, Keith was nothing more than a misbehaving child. Or perhaps he had simply seen too much to be moved by one with mixed blood lashing out in anger.

"If it's about _Shiro_ ," Pidge began, making sure to put emphasis on his name, "-then we already have that information."

"Uh... do we?" Matt asked, ignoring the glower his sister sent him. "Because, yeah, sure, we downloaded everything we could find on Haggar's ship, but we don't know for sure that we have any actual information in regards to Shiro in there."

"I am afraid you will not find anything in regards to the Champion," and Keith's growl deepened, which Ulaz clearly took into consideration, as he hastily corrected himself "-in regards to _Shiro_ on Haggar's cruiser."

"But you have it?" Allura asked, unable to keep all the skepticism out of her voice. She trusted Keith, and if he was willing to vouch for at least one of these Galra, then she was willing to gamble on the chance that what they might have to say would prove useful to them, but she wasn't about to go into this completely blind, either.

"Yes." Ulaz said firmly. "I can understand your hesitation, but I can assure you- we are all fighting for the same cause."

Weighing her options, Allura's brows drew together in thought. If they could bring them information about what Haggar had done to Shiro, then perhaps it was worth the risk. Perhaps it had not been his intention when he had broken onto that Galra cruiser, but it did not change the fact that in doing so, Keith had likely saved her life.

And with it, brought back _hope_ to the universe.

At the very least, she owed him that much. All the more so if those runes truly were Altean.

"Very well," Allura assented, "-we will send you our coordinates."

Glancing over towards Matt, he jumped a little, but quickly set to doing just that. On screen, she watched as Thace confirmed the coordinates that had been sent.

"We should be there within fifteen doboshes." Thace informed her. "I assume we have your permission to land."

Fifteen doboshes. That didn't give them a lot of time to prepare- or for her to speak with Keith, for that matter.

"Very well," Allura told them, swallowing back her other feelings, "-and yes, you have my permission to land. Matt will send you the location of our main hangar, you may dock your ship there, if it will fit."

Scrambling to do just that, she caught Matt catching Keith's eye out of the corner of her own. The half-Galra seemed intent on not returning the look, his thoughts probably considerably elsewhere. She could not gauge _where_ , exactly- his face was nigh unreadable.

"You have our thanks, princess." Thace told her, before cutting the transmission short. Once he did, she felt herself finally breathe, though the tension did not yet leave her shoulders.

She was inviting Galra onto her ship- and a pair of them, at that. In spite of the fact that she likely _could_ trust them, and the information that they were bringing, she could not help but feel a bit... apprehensive at the prospect.

"Lance, Hunk, head to the bridge and inform Coran of the situation." Allura instructed, turning sharply on her heel. "Tell him that he is to remain there. After which, I want the two of you to join me in the main hangar."

"Matt, Pidge, I'd like for the two of you to come as well." Allura said, before looking towards Keith, a slight frown on her face. "And Keith... get your armor, and then come join us in the hangar."

Keith opened his mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut, instead giving her a curt nod of his head. Good. She'd rather not argue at the moment.

If they had come seeking the paladins of Voltron, then she wished to show them a united front- even if they were one paladin short. And not, she thought, catching the suspicious glance Lance directed towards Keith as he exited the bridge- an entirely united front.

But at least they could _look_ it.

* * *

"Okay, so is it just me, or is this whole situation kind of weird?"

"Uh..." Hunk trailed off, giving him one of those looks. "I mean, we're kind of in space, flying giant lions. You're going to have to be a little more specific."

Right. Okay. That was a fair point. When he stopped to think about it, this whole situation had been weird from the start. But he wasn't talking about the lions.

"I mean Keith." Lance said, dropping his voice to a hushed whisper, even though they were the only ones around. "Don't you think it's a little convenient?"

"Again, you're going to have to be more specific, buddy." Hunk told him. "You mean those Blade guys showing up? I mean, yeah, I guess that's kind of convenient timing since Keith just like, mentioned them a few hours ago, which, by the way, feels like it was a lot longer ago than just a couple hours, but they've probably been keeping an eye on him for awhile, so..."

"No, I don't mean the Blades." Lance huffed, rolling his eyes. "I mean this whole thing!"

Hunk frowned. "Is this about Keith being _that_ Keith?"

"Yes, it's about Keith being _that_ Keith." Lance said, crossing his arms in front of him, narrowing his eyes. He didn't have to say it like that. "First we find out that the kid everyone thought died in the desert years ago is actually alive, and is apparently _half alien_ , and then Shiro gets kidnapped by those _same_ aliens years down the road? I'm telling you, something's fishy."

"Uh, just for the record, Keith was kidnapped by those aliens too." Hunk pointed out.

"Yeah, but we don't know that for sure, do we?" Lance asked.

Was it really just him? Was nobody else questioning this story at all? All they had to go off of was Keith's word, and it felt like all he'd done so far was a lot of lying to them.

"Lance, buddy," Hunk began, "-I know the fact that you were never able to beat his record is bugging you, but-"

"This isn't about the record, Hunk!" Lance snapped.

Okay, maybe it was, just a little. It was bad enough when there were two pilots named Keith who could probably out fly him in their sleep, but honestly? Knowing that they were the same person did not help, like, _at all_. Shouldn't he have like, gotten rusty or something, all those years he'd spent in space jail?

_If_ he'd been in space jail, that was.

"Look, all I'm saying is, Keith seems kind of shifty." Lance stated.

"I don't know, Lance." Hunk frowned, looking unconvinced. "He's really not that bad. I think he's just quiet. Some people are like that."

"He just admitted he can drain people's lifeforce, Hunk!" Lance huffed. "What part of that says _good guy_ to you?"

"Uh, the part where he didn't want it?" Hunk offered. "I mean... he didn't have to tell us about that, but he did."

Drawing his brows together, Lance had to admit, he had a point there. If that was some kind of ploy, then it wasn't one that he understood the point of. To gain their trust? If anything, that reveal made Lance trust him _less_.

Grunting, he tried not to think about that too much. Maybe he _was_ just jealous. But to not trust a guy because of that just sounded so _petty_ , and he wasn't petty, right...?

No, nope. He wasn't just being petty. It was way too weird that the one Garrison mission to get captured was the one with _Shiro_ on it. You know, the guy who had apparently been Keith's foster brother or whatever? And sure, fine, maybe Matt had been on that mission too, and he vouched for Keith, but he still thought the whole thing was a little fishy.

Besides- if Keith was half-human, what the heck had his mom even been doing on Earth in the first place?

But maybe Hunk was right. Maybe it was all one big coincidence and he was overthinking the whole thing. He grimaced a little at that- overthinking stuff was supposed to be more of _Hunk's_ style, not his. And as much as he loved the guy, that was like, the one personality trait he totally didn't want rubbing off on him.

"Yeah," Lance frowned, not convinced, but deciding now wasn't the time to fight it, "-okay. Maybe you're right. I still don't like it, though."

Hunk frowned, looking like he was considering saying something- but lost the chance once the elevator doors opened, admitting them to the bridge.

"Ah, paladins!" Coran greeted them. "Is something the matter?"

"Uh, Allura says we're getting visitors, apparently," Hunk told him, "-and for us to tell you to stay on the bridge, you know... just in case."

"Just in case?" Coran blinked. "What sort of visitors are they?"

"Galra." Lance frowned.

Humming in acknowledgment, Coran nodded his head but otherwise looked unbothered by the statement. "More rebels, I take it?"

"I mean... I guess?" Hunk frowned. "They called themselves the _Blade of Marmora_. You ever hear of it?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Coran admitted. "But you can assure the princess that I'll be right here, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious."

"We'll be sure to pass that on." Lance said. "Come on, Hunk. I want to get down to the hangar before _you know who_ gets there."

"You mean Keith?" Hunk asked.

Rolling his eyes, Lance grumbled. He had been trying to avoid saying it outright. "Yes, _Keith_. You don't have to say it out loud, you know."

"I'm telling you, Lance," Hunk said, "-you really have to give him a chance."

"What's this about _chances_ now?" Coran asked, and Lance fought the urge to groan. Great. This was a conversation that he totally didn't want to get into. Not with _Coran_ , at least.

"Lance thinks Keith's story is fishy." Hunk blurted out.

"Hunk!" Lance hissed, eyes wide. "You didn't have to tell him that!"

"I- oh, was that supposed to be a secret?" Hunk winced. "Uh, my bad."

Ugh. Normally he liked Hunk's honesty, but now he wished he were just a little better at lying, or at the very least, keeping things to himself.

"Hunk is right, my boy." Coran said, tugging on his mustache. "Normally, I would advise against trusting space pirates, but our resident outlaws seem to be the exception to the rule."

Groaning, Lance hung his head. That wasn't what he meant, but sure, okay, he'd take it. Whatever.

"Look," he began, just wanting the topic to be _anything_ but this, "-let's just get down to the hangar like the princess asked. If these _Blade of Marmora_ guys turn out to not be on the level, then she's going to need our help."

"Uh," Hunk hesitated, briefly glancing at Coran, who merely gave them a smile, "-yeah, we can do that. But do you really think they're lying?"

"I don't know! Maybe that creepy witch lady sent them." Lance huffed. "It just seems convenient that they would show up now, right after we took Shiro back."

"You mean after _Keith_ took Shiro back." Hunk corrected.

"Yeah, fine. After _Keith_ took Shiro back." Lance grumbled. "Let's just go."

Honestly, what difference did it even make? The important thing was that Shiro was _here_. Whatever that creepy witch lady had done to him, they could undo.

At least, he hoped. Hunk had seemed pretty adamant that it was brainwashing, and he trusted Hunk- even though he wasn't wild about his defense of Keith. When the heck had they even gotten so buddy-buddy?

Which- fine. He knew the answer to that. That was just the sort of guy Hunk was. Heck, that was part of why he liked him!

Look- he just didn't want to think his hero could have joined the bad guys. It had been bad enough when he'd thought he was _dead_.

But willingly joining an evil space empire? He didn't know if he could handle that.

* * *

"You forgot something."

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Keith jerked his head up, heaving a sigh of relief when he realized it was just Pidge. She was dangling his belt from one hand. Absently checking behind him, he realized he had never gotten it back from her- he'd sort of slipped out before anyone could stop him.

"Oh, uh... thanks." Keith frowned, reaching out to take it, only for Pidge to pull it out of his reach. Narrowing his eyes, he took a step forward, Pidge taking a step back. " _Pidge_."

"Keith." Pidge said. "When were you going to tell me?"

"I told you now, didn't I?" Keith said, snatching the belt from her. Removing the knife, he tucked it into his paladin armor, feeling more secure already. "Look, it doesn't matter right now. We can talk about it later."

"We've got fifteen doboshes." Pidge stated.

"Less than that." Keith muttered, but heaved a sigh. She was angry, and she had the right of it. She'd just found out that she'd been keeping company with a monster for the past year, so he couldn't exactly blame her.

"Look, Pidge, I'm-"

"I'm sorry."

Shutting his mouth, Keith blinked, staring down at the green paladin, uncomprehending. "I... wha- why would you apologize to me? I'm the one who needs to-"

"Because I knew," she confessed, "-I knew you were struggling with something, but I never tried to ask you anything. I should have."

"That's not," Keith frowned, not knowing what to say to that, "-you were just being considerate."

"Maybe," she said, "-but I just... you gave me _hope_ , Keith. That actually finding my family might be possible. I wouldn't have even gotten this far if it weren't for you."

Shoulders slumping, Keith looked down at Pidge. He didn't get it, but he knew he'd upset Pidge in some way. That couldn't stand.

"Come on," he began, forcing himself to smile, "-I think we both know that's not true. You would have found your way up to space somehow."

Cracking a faint grin, Pidge pushed up the bridge of her glasses. "Well, I didn't say I _never_ would have gotten here. Just that I wouldn't have gotten here nearly as fast."

"Also," she added, cocking a brow, "-has anyone ever told you that your fake smile is just plain creepy?"

Flinching, Keith covered his mouth. It wasn't _that_ bad, was it?

Sighing, Pidge shifted on her feet. "Look, all I'm trying to say is that we should have talked about stuff more. You shouldn't have had to keep something like that to yourself."

Keith frowned, his brows knitting together. "So you're not freaked out by it?"

"Freaked out?" Pidge blinked. "Why would I be freaked out?"

Dropping his hand, Keith stared at her, perplexed. Didn't she get it? "Pidge, I can- I'm a monster."

Rolling her eyes, Pidge just shrugged off his declaration. "So you're a space vampire. Big deal."

"I'm not just a space vampire, I'm-"

"Keith." Pidge cut him off, looking him square in the eye. "I just said it wasn't a big deal. It's not like this is something you asked for, right?"

Unable to say anything, Keith just shook his head. God no, he hadn't asked for this.

"And I'm pretty sure I've never actually seen you _use_ it, so... yeah. It's not a big deal." Pidge shrugged. "You're a good person, Keith. Reckless and headstrong, yeah, but you're not a _monster_. You'd make mom cry if she heard you call yourself that."

Swallowing, Keith just stared at Pidge, unwilling to believe his ears. Was she really just accepting him, just like that?

_Green trusts_ , Red rumbled in the back of his head, _friend_. _Family_.

"I," Keith opened his mouth, before biting down on his lip, "-I... I just..."

He hadn't... he hadn't had anyone say anything to him quite like that since Shiro had been around, really. Ducking his head, Keith drew in a long, shuddering breath, wondering what he should even say. What could he say to that?

"You know," Pidge piped up, "- _thanks_ is pretty standard in a situation like this."

Peeking out from behind his bangs, Keith gave her a weak smile. "Thanks."

Nodding her head, Pidge beamed. "You're welcome! Now c'mon, lets go meet these _Blade_ guys of yours. I'm _dying_ to find out how they get their armor to do that glow thingy."

Letting out a faint snort in spite of himself, Keith felt at least a little bit of his built up tension wash away. He had honestly expected to be flat out rejected after his confession- so this... this was nice.

Even if he now had more unanswered questions than before. Hand hovering over his heart, he frowned. What was it that Allura was going to say?

Altean. She had said the runes etched into his skin were _Altean_. That he'd heard.

How? It didn't make any sense. Haggar was Galra, wasn't she? Why would she be using Altean magic?

But if they were Altean... was there... could Allura _fix_ him? Was that even possible?

He didn't know. He'd given up on that idea. It had seemed so impossible- but now that the prospect was staring him in the face, he was too terrified of being let down to even dare to hope. He had only gotten this far because he'd resigned himself to it being impossible to fix.

He didn't know if he was ready to do otherwise.

* * *

She hadn't even noticed Pidge slip away from them, so she'd been rather surprised when she had arrived at the hangar in the company of Keith, just after Hunk and Lance. The borderland rebels had already left, vowing that they would return once they secured Te-Osh a place at one of their medical facilities.

She wished them luck.

Catching Keith's eye, Allura bit down on her lip. There was plenty that she would like to say to him, but now was not the time. Instead, she turned away, failing to notice the downcast turn of his gaze as she did so.

The Galra would be arriving soon.

"Remember," Allura began, "-we might have invited them onto our ship, but we will still remain cautious. At least until we know we can trust them for sure."

"I mean... this Thace is the one who supposedly freed Keith, right?" Pidge asked.

"Supposedly, yes." Allura said.

"It _was_ him." Keith stated. "I'm positive."

Frowning at his tone, Allura nevertheless dismissed it. "I understand that. But the fact remains that we know nothing about this other Galra he was with- this _Ulaz_."

Keith frowned, but he opted not to say anything. Satisfied that he had said his piece, Allura fixed her gaze towards the hangar's entrance. Within moments, she spotted a ship, the make of which she was unfamiliar with, begin to make its approach.

In spite of herself, she felt her body tense.

The ship landed without issue, which relieved a bit of said tension. If they truly wanted to, they would have been able to open fire on them from within the hangar. It still did not mean that they were wholly trustworthy, simply that one of her fears did not come to fruition.

She did not entirely loathe the idea of trusting the Galra, but she still felt uneasy about it. Zarkon's betrayal was still fresh, at least to her.

"Paladins," Allura spoke, "-be on your guard."

Two Galra exited the ship- Thace and Ulaz, each clad in the same type of armor. Upon closer examination, it bore faint similarities to old Galran stealth wear, but she never would have been able to tell at a mere glance.

They also each carried a blade.

She thought of Keith's knife, and of his mysterious Galra mother, to whom it had once belonged. She thought of his father's shack, where he had grown up, so close to where the blue lion had been hidden.

"Greetings," Allura stepped forward, presenting herself to the pair, "-I am Princess Allura. Those with me are the paladins of Voltron, and Matthew Holt, of the rebellion."

Matt actually _waved_.

"Princess Allura," Thace pressed his hand over his chest in salute, "-it is my honor. As I said during our transmission, I am Thace, of the Blade of Marmora."

The other Galra did much the same. "Ulaz."

"You claim that you have information in regards to Shiro." Allura stated. "But you have not explained how you are aware that such information would even be relevant to us."

"I know," Ulaz stated, "-because up until a few vargas ago, I used to serve Haggar as a technician. I was the one who constructed his arm."

Allura narrowed her eyes at that. "And you know how to help him?"

"No," Ulaz confessed, "-if I did, I would have done it myself already. But I do have information that might help you do it yourself, princess."

Allura stiffened at that. She did not like the direction that this was taking.

"Me?" Allura asked. "How can you be so sure that I can?"

"Because," Ulaz replied, "-the witch Haggar is Altean."

She swallowed. It was just as she feared, then. It could have been a lie, a trick, but she had seen the rune markings for herself. That Haggar was actually Altean was the most reasonable explanation.

Even if it made her gut twist just to think about it.

"I understand." Allura said slowly, gauging her words carefully. "We have much to discuss."

She tried not to look at Keith's expression as she turned to face the paladins- and failed. She wished she hadn't, because if she thought it had been unreadable before, then now she truly could not even begin to gauge what was going through his mind.

She had once held him in suspicion for simply being part Galra. So if he were going to loathe her for being Altean, she could hardly blame him.

She only hoped that the information Ulaz had brought with him would prove to be useful. Because if it were, truly, an Altean that had stolen so much from him, then at the very least, she could attempt to give what had been taken back.

She just feared it might be beyond her ability.

* * *

"Sir, the planet will be in range within one varga. How shall we proceed?"

Studying the star map with mild interest, Sendak narrowed his eyes. His loss against the red lion's paladin and his motley crew of pirates was a black mark on his record, and one that he was looking forward to correcting.

Now he had been given a chance to redeem himself. He would not waste it.

As tempting as it was, simply destroying the Castle of Lions was not an option. He had been given explicit orders- that both the Champion and the fugitive prisoner were to be captured, alive. Fortunately, he knew just the way to do that.

And while he was at it, why stop there?

"Ready the weapon the witch gave us." Sendak instructed. "Haxus, gather some sentries and come with me. We shall claim the lions ourselves."


	28. fall of the castle of lions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The proximity alarm gave made one burst of sound, before it, and everything else on the bridge, shut down at once, plunging the room into near darkness. There wasn't even the faint light of the Balmeran crystal to-
> 
>  _Crystal_. The crystal was down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, it's time for the new chapter! This is usually around the time when I mention that I'll be taking a brief hiatus from fic writing when season eight comes out, at least until I've watched it all. But hopefully I'll get the next chapter of desert raised out before that, at the very least! But anyways, here's this chapter! Shit is going down, and I personally, find it to be glorious.

Keith kept his gaze rooted to the floor as they advanced through the Castle. He trailed behind the group, only periodically looking up to study the two Galra that had arrived. They claimed to be part of some group called the Blade of Marmora, and ever since he'd heard that, he'd been burning with questions.

He had a blade. One that had been left for him by his mother. It was his only link to her, and now he was faced with the very real prospect that she was a Galran rebel. After so long wondering about his mother's identity, dreading the answers, it was like a light at the end of the tunnel.

But part of him felt like it was too good to be true. This just wasn't how life worked out for him. Whenever something looked good, it usually wasn't, and even when it was, it still didn't work out.

He bit his lip. Maybe that was changing. Pidge knew what he was now, and she had still accepted him- and while they hadn't exactly had any time to discuss it, nobody was making an effort to cast him out of the Castle, or try to take Red away from him. Maybe for once, it was perfectly fine to hope.

But then, he'd thought that too, back when Shiro had come into his life. Life had proved otherwise.

He wanted to ask about his mom, but there were other, more pressing things to deal with at the moment. He could probably ask Thace and Ulaz later, see if they knew anything.

He didn't know what he would _do_ with the information even if they had it. He didn't even know if he _wanted_ to see his mother. Not after she'd left his father. Not after she'd left _him_.

"Ah, princess!" Coran greeted them as they arrived on the bridge, only looking mildly surprise at the presence of the two Galra. "I see you've brought our guests."

Allura gave the advisor a smile. "Yes. These are Thace and Ulaz."

"Always a pleasure to meet rebels." Coran remarked, sticking out his hand. "The name's Coran. Ship's engineer and mechanic."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Thace grasped it by the forearm, a gesture which Coran didn't hesitate to return. "It is our pleasure."

Pleasantries exchanged, Thace released Coran's forearm, turning back to the princess, whose gaze had never truly left the Galra. Keith could sense that she was still somewhat wary- which he couldn't exactly blame her for. If Thace hadn't rescued him, he'd be pretty skeptical too.

It wasn't like he'd never met any Galra who weren't with the Empire. He had. But most of them were only interested in looking out for themselves- pirates and outlaws. Not any actual _rebels_ \- not that he had any room to talk. Before Voltron, he'd fallen into that same category. Maybe he'd stole stuff from the Galra Empire, but in the end, he was only looking for two things- a payday and revenge.

Guess when nobody in the universe trusted you, the most you could do was get by.

"I suppose you have questions." Thace stated.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Allura told him. "Quite a few, in fact."

"I will try and answer whatever I can." Thace told her. "Though I am afraid that there are some things we cannot disclose to you. Our visit here was not exactly authorized by our leader."

"He will come around." Ulaz said.

Frowning, Keith took a seat in the red paladin's chair. Even with two Galra on the bridge, he felt more out of place than ever. Sure, maybe no one was in a hurry to chase him out of here, but having his confession interrupted like that just made him feel like everything was still up in the air- that anything could happen.

It wasn't an easy feeling.

But he was trying to think positive. _Trying_ being the key word.

Allura caught his gaze, her lips briefly curling into a frown. He tensed without meaning to- what she had said before was still bothering him. He hadn't exactly forgotten the bombshell that Ulaz had dropped either- how could Haggar be _Altean_?

It didn't make any sense. Zarkon had _destroyed_ Altea. Why would one be working for him?

Thankfully, Allura's gaze didn't remain on him for long. He let out a faint sigh of relief as she looked away, only to tense again, realizing that she wasn't the only one who was watching him. Glancing in their direction, he frowned. Lance had been glaring at him back in the hangar too, so maybe not everyone was as welcoming of him as Pidge.

He tried to ignore it. Focus on the Blades.

"Keith tells me that you helped him escape from Central Command." Allura remarked. "Is that true?"

"Yes." Thace told her. "We knew that Haggar had to be stopped. Her research was too dangerous."

He couldn't agree more.

Allura's eyes narrowed at that. "Keith told us she was trying to create something called the _komar_. Do you know if she succeeded?"

"It is still being tested." Ulaz replied. "We do not know if she has been successful yet. Now that Thace and I have compromised our covers, we have no one on the inside with access to Central Command, or to Haggar."

"Compromised?" Pidge asked. "So if Thace blew his cover by freeing Keith, how did you blow yours?"

Something clicked in Keith's mind. "Shiro's arm."

He hadn't meant to say that out loud, but he must have, because everyone turned to look at him. "Shiro's arm." He repeated, sensing he had no choice but to explain. "It suddenly shut down during our fight."

"I had an inkling that your red paladin was unlikely to turn himself over to Haggar without a fight." Ulaz explained. "So under the cover of doing routine maintenance, I rigged the Champion's arm to automatically power down after a fixed amount of time."

Keith grit his teeth at that. The Champion. Ulaz had called him that before, and he hated it.

The worst part was, he couldn't even deny it. Shiro right now wasn't Shiro- he was this _Champion_ , loyal servant sworn to the Galra Empire. But that was only because he had been manipulated into _thinking_ he was. He didn't know what Haggar had done to him, but it was clear that he didn't even remember being Shiro, but that didn't mean the Shiro he'd known was gone.

There _had_ to be a way to get him back. That was the whole reason that Ulaz was here.

"In that case, I suppose we owe you our thanks." Allura stated.

"Yeah, Keith was in pretty rough shape when he came back." Hunk remarked, and there was a genuine concern to his voice that touched him- and took him by surprise. "So... thanks."

He knew what Hunk was implying. That he might not have made it back if Shiro's arm hadn't powered down. He couldn't even deny it- it was obvious he had been losing that fight. A few more minutes, and he might have not made it back.

He shuddered at the thought. Sure, being together with Shiro again sounded great, just not like _that_. Maybe she'd erased or suppressed their bond in order to make Shiro comply, but he didn't doubt that Haggar would reverse that decision if it suited her own purposes.

It made him sick to just think about it.

"We couldn't let Haggar get her hands on your red paladin, not again." Ulaz observed. "And while he remains under her command, the Champion would continue to remain a prominent threat. Getting him away from her and returning him to normal was a priority."

" _Can_ we, though?" Hunk asked, sounding hesitant. And honestly? Keith didn't blame him. He'd seen what he had. "I mean... he seemed pretty out of it when I saw him."

"He didn't even recognize me." Matt added.

"That is why we are here." Ulaz stated. "I believe that it is possible."

"Yeah, you said that." Keith spoke up. "You also said that you needed Allura for it."

"I... will admit, the revelation that Haggar is Altean is shocking," Allura began, and he sensed that was an understatement, because he knew it was for him, "-but I am afraid that I am not the alchemist my father was, nor even as Honerva once was."

Ulaz's brow crinkled. "Have you received no training?"

"Only the most basic of teachings." Allura admitted. "But perhaps if you could tell us exactly what it is Haggar has done to him, I may be able to work something out."

"I mean... you did come up with a way to track down the green lion without the Castle." Pidge pointed out. "Maybe you could improvise something with Shiro."

"Yes, you're right." Allura said, though she didn't sound convinced. "Though I cannot help but worry that I might accidentally make the situation worse."

"I don't see how you could, princess." Keith said. "He's already been brainwashed into thinking he's loyal to the Zarkon. What could be worse than that?"

Even _if_ Shiro were to completely lose his memories, it would still be better than letting him be Haggar's brainwashed puppet. He could take Shiro forgetting about him. He didn't think he could handle having to fight against him again. He'd barely managed it _this_ time.

Allura frowned, but relented. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

"In any case, we should take a look at this information." Coran chimed in. "See if there's anything we can do to help in the meantime."

Ulaz nodded, retrieving a data chip from underneath one of his claws. He couldn't help looking at them- they made his own look like finely trimmed nails in comparison. Suddenly he felt a little less self-conscious about them- guess they could be worse.

"This is everything I was able to retrieve." Ulaz stated, passing the data chip to the princess, who accepted it with no small degree of caution, as if some part of her still feared it might be a tiny explosive.

"You got anything about mullet on there?" Lance asked.

He bristled at the question, fighting the urge to growl. He couldn't tell if he had just imagined the suspicion in the blue paladin's tone or not, but maybe he had. Even with the affirmation he'd gotten from Pidge, he still couldn't shake the foreboding feeling of paranoia that insistently clung to him.

"Mullet?" Ulaz asked with a frown.

"He means Keith." Pidge cut in, narrowing her eyes. "And why would we need data on him anyways? _Keith's_ not the problem."

Lance just sulked, but said nothing in response. Oh. Maybe he _hadn't_ imagined that suspicion, then. Which was... fair, he guessed. He couldn't blame him for not trusting him. If anything, that reaction actually made more sense to him.

"Oh," Ulaz merely blinked, "-then no, I do not."

"Pity," Allura frowned, and for a second, he almost felt his heart stop, "-perhaps I could have used it to help."

And at that, Keith felt the tension leave his shoulders, staring at the princess dumbfounded. Help? Had she actually been thinking about how to _help_ him?

He shook his head. Of course she had. As long as he was the red paladin, his ability would prove to be a liability to the team. Of course she would want to try and fix him as quickly as possible- it wasn't for his sake, but for Voltron's. That was fine. He was okay with that. Whatever the reason, if there was a way to actually _fix_ him, then he wanted to take it.

"Look," Matt spoke, catching his gaze and giving him what he swore was a sympathetic smile, "-let's just focus on Shiro for now. Princess, what does the data say?"

"Let me check." Allura stated. "Hunk, do you mind if I use your console?"

"Help yourself." Hunk told her.

She gave the yellow paladin a grateful smile, taking a seat in his chair. Inserting the data chip, she brought up a monitor, her brow furrowing as she gave its contents a cursory scan. He shifted a bit in his chair, tempted to go over and look- if it was about Shiro, he wanted to know.

Except for the part of him that _didn't_. He knew all too well what Haggar was capable of, and he didn't want to think about the methods she might have used to twist Shiro's mind.

"There seems to be some form of Altean alchemy involved, but I have never-" Allura began, only to stop short, as the monitor suddenly flickered, before disappearing completely.

"What on-"

The proximity alarm gave one burst of sound, before it, and everything else on the bridge, shut down at once, plunging the room into near darkness. There wasn't even the faint light of the Balmeran crystal to-

 _Crystal_. The crystal was down.

Keith paled.

* * *

The sound of the Castle powering down without explanation sent a chill down her spine. Frantically looking towards Coran, he looked just as ashen as she.

She forced herself to breathe. _Don't panic, Allura._

"What has happened?" Allura inquired, rising to her feet.

"I don't know, princess." Coran admitted. "It's like something shut down the crystal matrix. Nothing is responding."

"How do we know it's not _their_ fault?" Lance asked, jerking his head over towards the Blades, and she could have sworn that he was itching to draw his bayard. "The whole thing only shut down after you put that weird chip thingy of theirs into the system."

"I assure you, this was not because of us." Thace stated.

Allura frowned. Part of her wanted to jump at that explanation, but she doubted they were lying to her. Whatever had caused the Castle to shut down, it had nothing to do with the Blades. It had to be something else.

"Did anyone else hear the proximity alarm go off just before the Castle died?" Matt asked.

Right, of course. Now that she thought about it, she _had_ heard it. She'd just filed it away in the back of her mind. "I did. Do you think something external could be causing this?"

"Uh... you don't think that creepy witch lady could have tracked us?" Hunk ventured. "Do you?"

Allura furrowed her brow, looking towards Ulaz. "You worked for her."

Ulaz considered the question. "It is not impossible. Haggar is adept at tracking."

 _Tracking_. Allura narrowed her eyes. "The wormhole. Of course. She must have tracked it."

If she were truly Altean, she could not put it past her. Especially if this _Haggar_ was actually Honerva, whose skills as an alchemist were second only to those of her father's.

"Now that I think about it, she _did_ say something kind of weird in her message." Pidge chimed in. "When she gave us the deadline for the exchange, she told us we had until _sundown_. I didn't think about it at the time, but doesn't that mean she at least knew we were on a planet?"

"Yeah, and that she knew when sundown was?" Hunk added.

"She must." Allura agreed, cursing herself for not realizing sooner. "But how did she-?"

Before she could finish asking that, a loud noise caught her ears. It sounded like something falling over.

Or some _one_.

"Wha- _Keith_!" Pidge called out, hurrying to the red paladin's side. He had fallen out of his chair, one hand clutched over his heart, clawing at his armor in a vain attempt to get it off. "Keith, what's wrong?"

She might have missed it before, but now she realized that the air had seemingly changed around him. It was not the same wrongness that had nearly overcome her when the red lion had landed, but rather, the exact opposite- the distorted feeling that Keith gave off had ebbed.

She could only assume that was actually _not_ a good thing.

"Move aside." Allura demanded, crouching down beside Keith. He made a faint grunt, as if he were attempting to say something, but Allura ignored it in favor of hauling him into a sitting position, bracing him against the red paladin's chair. Pidge hovered by his side, one hand on his shoulder, as if to prevent him from falling over in the other direction.

"I am going to remove your armor." Allura stated.

Keith grunted, and she took that as acknowledgment. Tearing off his chest plate, she yanked down his undersuit, biting the inside of her lip at what she saw.

The runes no longer glowed. They shouldn't have in the first place, but the fact that they were not doing so now could not be good.

"Crystal," Keith grunted, struggling with his words, "-fused."

That seemed to be all he could manage, but suddenly, she understood. With a cold chill, it dawned on her that in order to give him the ability to drain quintessence, that Haggar would have had to install some kind of filter, so that his body could process foreign quintessence, and convert it into his own.

And what would be better for that than a Balmeran crystal? One fused to the heart, not less.

She wanted to gag.

Fortunately, horrible as the circumstances were, Keith's words seemed to spark something in Ulaz. She didn't even notice that he was by her side until he was already there, and in spite of her desire to try and trust them, she felt herself tense, breath hitching in her throat. Keith was defenseless like this, and she was not about to allow any of her paladins get hurt.

But she released her tension, moving aside so that Ulaz could get a closer look. He traced the runes with a light finger, painstakingly careful not to tear into him with his claws.

"Haggar was working on something," Ulaz began, "-a weapon that could send out a wavelength that could disrupt Balmeran crystals. She must have completed it."

"So what, like an EMP?" Pidge asked.

"Close enough." Ulaz observed. "It must be what she used to shut down the Castle."

Allura felt herself pale. If this weapon disrupted the energy of Balmeran crystals, and there was one fused to the heart of her red paladin, what would it do to _him_?

"Okay, we need to think." Matt said, but it was clear from the sound of his voice that he was considerably anxious. "There has to be a ship or something close by that's the cause of this. That's what set off the proximity alarm. If we can take that out, we can restore power back to the ship."

"I agree, but there might be a small problem with that." Coran said. "All of our pods use crystals too."

"What about our ship?" Pidge suggested. "Wouldn't that work?"

" _No_." Keith hissed, his breaths sounding awfully labored.

Right. Of course. Both the one on their stolen Galran transport ship, and the one in... well, Keith's chest, had to be _Galra_ crystals. If this... _EMP_ was effecting Keith, it was liable to effect his ship's crystal as well.

"What about the lions?" Lance asked. "Could we use-?"

He didn't get to finish, because the ship was suddenly rocked by something. Maybe the Castle was offline, but there were still windows on the bridge, so Allura instead used those- and sure enough, it was just as they feared. They were already surrounded by a wave of Galra fighters.

Even worse, they might not have anything to defend themselves with.

"We cannot use the lions." Allura stated. "They should all be locked in their bays."

"So what _can_ we do?" Pidge asked. "We can't just sit here and do _nothing_ while they attack us."

"We can use my ship." Thace stated. "It is not powered by a crystal, so it should still be usable. Once onboard, I will be able to locate and deactivate the source of the disruption."

Allura looked up at him, making a quick assessment of his offer. She was still not one hundred percent certain that these Blades could be trusted, but at the moment, they were also her best option. She had to take the chance.

"Take Keith with you." Allura finally said. Perhaps if they got him out of range, he might recover. "As long as he stays here, I fear he will remain in danger."

Keith grunted, like he wanted to say something, but she didn't think it was a protest.

"Wait, hold up," Lance piped up, "-so we're just going to let the Galra leave with Keith? You know, the person the freaky witch wanted? That doesn't sound like a great plan."

Fair enough. Perhaps _some_ prudence was called for. "Very well. You shall go with them, Lance."

"Wha- _me_?!" Lance sputtered. "No, I-"

"If you do not think you can..." Allura trailed off.

Lance snapped his mouth shut. That did it. "I'll go."

"Good." Allura nodded her head, grunting as another shot shook the Castle. She got the awful feeling that whoever was attacking was toying with them, and she didn't like it. "Pidge? Do you think you can install the cloaking device you used on the pod onto Thace's ship?"

"I," Pidge began, sounding hesitant, before glancing down at Keith, determination washing over her features, "-I should."

"Then come with me, green paladin." Thace stated. "We have no time to waste."

Pidge made haste to leave with Thace, who scooped Keith up with such ease that it practically made the red paladin seem almost boneless, Lance trailing behind them. Now that they had some form of plan, she felt a little more at ease, but she couldn't relax just yet.

"We still need to do something about those fighters." Coran said. "Without the particle barrier, we're defenseless."

"How can we?" Allura asked. "Without the lions, we _are_ defenseless."

As if to illustrate, one of the fighters helpfully fired another shot. She grunted, gritting her teeth as she stood tall, refusing to waver even as the ship buckled underneath her very feet.

"Wait, I can," Matt began, frantically digging into one of his pouches, producing his transmitter, "-I can contact the rebels. Maybe they can get someone back here."

"Do it." Allura instructed. She did not know if they would make it in time, but it was better than the alternative.

"Princess, I hate to say it, but there's one other problem we haven't yet addressed." Coran said- to which she could only frown. "The Castle has lost all power."

Well... yes. She knew that. It was what they had been discussing for the past few doboshes. That was the reason they couldn't-

...oh. Oh dear.

How could she not have realized? Of course, Coran was right- there _was_ one major problem they had all overlooked. Without power, there would be nothing keeping the cryopods functioning.

"Shiro's pod," Allura said out loud, "-it will have lost power."

Matt froze. "Wait... his pod? Are you sure? Because you were-"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Number One." Coran cut him off. "The princess' pod was set to power itself, that's why it could last as long as it did. But the pods on the Castle are dependent on the Castle's own power- they don't have that function, I'm afraid, at least, not without setting them manually, they don't."

"Oh man, this is bad." Hunk said, looking over his shoulder like he expected Shiro to arrive any second. " _Please_ tell me you set the pod manually."

"I'm afraid not." Coran admitted.

"So... what?" Matt asked. "Shiro's lose in the Castle?"

"Even worse," Ulaz said, "-the Champion."

Matt merely grimaced, no doubt recalling his own encounter with this _Champion_. "Okay, yeah. That's bad."

"His arm should still be powered down." Ulaz supplied.

"Okay, so, no laser beams. Got it." Hunk said. "That's helpful. But uh... I'm pretty sure we can't just let him run around the Castle, can we?"

"No." Allura agreed. "Nor can we let him escape."

Keith had been willing to sacrifice so much for a chance to bring him back. They could not fail him, nor could they put all his efforts to waste.

"I'll go." Matt said. "I don't know if it'll help, since he didn't recognize me the last time, but we did use to know each other. Maybe that'll spark something."

"I will come with you." Allura said.

"Wha- _you_ , princess?" Coran asked.

"Yes." Allura stated, resolute. "I cannot just stand by and do nothing. Matt, I do not suppose you have a spare staff?"

They had some on the training deck, but with the Castle's power offline, she wouldn't be able to get one.

"Sure do." Matt told her, reaching into his pouch and pulling one out, tossing it to her.

She wasted no time in extending it, tapping the butt against the ground. Good. She could more than work with this. "Coran, stay here and guard the bridge with Hunk. Ulaz-"

She opened her mouth, and then quickly closed it. If she were to err in her judgement, the cost could be tremendous. But she couldn't afford to hesitate, not with the stakes so high. Drawing in a long breath, she squared her shoulders, finding her resolve.

"There is something I need you to protect."

* * *

"Okay," Pidge began, taking a step back, "-that should do it."

At least, she _hoped_ it would. She'd expected the tech on Thace's ship to be like the Galra tech she had worked with in the past, but it had been nothing like it. It was leaps beyond- but thankfully, while it had been a sharp learning curve, she'd been determined to overcome it. In the end, she had made quick work of it- faster even than when she had installed it in the Altean pod, prompted by a sense of urgency.

Thace checked the controls for himself, confirming that the cloaking device was safely in place. "This is quite clever, green paladin."

"Yeah, well," in spite of herself, Pidge glowed a bit at the praise, "-I'm pretty good at this sort of thing."

A soft laugh caught her ears- and she nearly felt relieved to hear it. Keith was slumped over in one corner of the ship, paladin armor fixed back into place, but he was looking at her. He caught her gaze, giving her a weak smile- one that dropped off his face almost immediately.

God, she hoped Allura was right.

The princess had likely realized something she hadn't. All she knew was that whatever this EMP device was, its signal was causing Keith pain, and that was enough for her.

"So we're ready to fly this baby?" Lance asked.

Narrowing her eyes, Pidge glared at him. She hadn't forgotten how suspicious Lance had sounded back on the bridge- not just of the Blades, but of Keith as well. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable letting him go with Keith- or Thace, who she had already decided she could put her trust in.

Anyone who had risked as much as he had to save Keith couldn't be a bad person. And she'd be a massive hypocrite for doubting him just because he was Galra.

Thace, for his part, merely arched a brow at the figure of speech. "She should be ready to fly, yes."

"Good," Lance said, nodding at the screen Thace had brought up, "-and at least we know what we're dealing with now."

A single Galra cruiser. Pidge frowned. It _could_ be the witch's ship, but she wasn't sure. It looked different- though granted, she hadn't exactly been paying much attention to the ship's structure, other than to locate the infiltration point.

Still, the fact that there was only a single cruiser bothered her. _Something_ about this whole situation stunk, but with Keith in the condition he was in, she didn't have the time to think about it. She just had to _do_.

If something stunk, she could deal with it later.

"I should tell Allura." Pidge said. "Good luck."

Keith grunted in reply. Lance probably said something, but she was still mad at him, so she kind of tuned him out. She wanted to go with them, but she knew she might be needed here- besides, if getting Keith away from the Castle of Lions helped alleviate his symptoms, then they would have _three_ people in fighting condition, and not just two.

And she was going to take a wild guess that Thace was probably a lot better at infiltrating Galra ships than either of them were. Maybe she should ask him for some tips, you know, in case this whole _paladin_ thing didn't work out.

"Take care of yourself, green paladin." Thace told her.

She blinked- then smiled, giving the Galra a nod. See? She knew she was right. Definitely not a bad dude.

"You too."

* * *

His head was pounding when he woke, and for a dobosh, he could not understand why.

Then it came back.

Clenching his fist- his left, as his right would not move, in spite of his persistent prompting- the Champion grit his teeth, taking note of his surroundings. He must have been brought back to the Castle of Lions- though the Castle appeared darkened, and he could not make out the steady hum of power being supplied.

Standing tall, he quickly came to a conclusion- that Haggar must be attempting to extract him. It had been his own carelessness that had allowed him to lose to the red paladin- not to mention Ulaz's treachery.

Staring down at his now useless arm, he narrowed his eyes. It would seem Haggar had not rid herself of all the rats.

He didn't doubt Ulaz had since fled. He was clever- but also a fool, if he thought it wise to go against the Galra Empire. He did not understand why he would- he could have had all the power he desired, had he stayed loyal, but instead he had chosen to betray them.

He would not. _He_ was loyal.

Closing his eyes, he drew in a long breath, trying to determine his next course of action. There was a faint pull at the back of his mind, but he opted to ignore it for the time being. Should he attempt to capture the red paladin? The princess?

The rest of the paladins were likely disposable, though perhaps with time, Haggar could teach them the glory of the Galra Empire. Perhaps he should spare them.

No, he decided. Being a paladin was an honor that only the Galra deserved. He would slaughter these paladins, and present the lions to the Empire. He did not care about Haggar's promised reward of giving him one to fly- wiping out this rebellion before it could take root was imperative.

Only when Emperor Zarkon's reign was absolute, could there be peace.

Snapping his eyes open, he resolved himself to a course of action. The red paladin and the Altean princess- he would abduct them both, and bring them before Haggar. As for the paladins, he would strike them down where they stood.

That would surely more than make up for his failure.

* * *

"Sir, how shall we proceed?"

Gaze fixed on the Altean Castle that rose out of the scenery, Sendak narrowed his eyes. "Have you determined a point of infiltration yet?"

"I have, sir." Haxus confirmed.

"Good." Sendak stated. "We shall wait another few doboshs before we strike."

"Far be it from me to doubt your orders, sir," Haxus began, "-but would it not be prudent to strike swiftly?"

"Normally." Sendak replied. "But the witch's Champion is in the Castle. Perhaps the human can be of some use."

To say that he was not fond of the witch's puppet was an understatement, but he would admit that he could prove useful at times. Had he been born Galra, he would be a proud soldier of the Empire- it was a tragedy that he had been born a member of such an inferior race.

It was that same inferior blood that tainted the halfbreed pirate- that caused him to be such a nuisance. Like a fly that had yet to be swatted.

Luckily, that could be arranged.


	29. black paladin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura spared a moment to smile, before she turned towards Shiro. It was her first time seeing him conscious, and if she didn't already know that he was simply being brainwashed, she never would have guessed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, what a chapter! This was a doozy to write, and I loved every second of it! Also, happy new year! I'm pleased to announce that I have more fics planned in this, the new year- one that I should hopefully be starting soon that is a bit of a departure for me since it's going to be canon-based as opposed to an AU. It'll focus on Allura and Keith, and also eldritch space terrors mixed with a bit of Narti backstory without (tragically) actually having Narti in it (don't want to get anyone's hopes up, lol). So hopefully that will be fun! I mean. It definitely won't be fun for Allura and Keith, but you know. Hopefully it'll be fun for us.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for sticking with me for (nearly) a full year! Here's to seeing y'all again soon!

Once they all split up to their respective tasks, she and Matt made haste to the med bay, only to find it empty. Just as Coran said, all power was off, and there was no sign of Shiro.

Matt took one look at the empty med bay and grimaced. "Yeah, that's not good."

"Quite." Allura agreed.

Scanning the med bay for any sign of where he might have gone, Allura frowned. The situation was far from ideal, and the occasional rocking of the Castle caused by laser fire was not helping her nerves. Not only did they have the threat from the Galra to deal with, but they also had a brainwashed soldier on the loose- one that they could not afford to let escape.

"Where do you think he went?" Matt asked.

"I cannot say." Allura shook her head. "I doubt he knows the layout well enough to know his way around. I would suggest splitting up to find him, but..."

"Yeah, that's probably not a good idea." Matt agreed.

Allura nodded. Disabled arm or not, their odds were better if they stuck together. Heaving a sigh, she wished that at least the emergency power was still on. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark halls, but she wouldn't be surprised if Shiro's were better adapted. He had been living amongst the Galra, after all, such a modification was well within the range of expectations.

At least the paladins had helmets equipped with night vision, and Coran had the huge window of the Castle to provide them with some natural light. She and Matt, on the other hand, were entirely on their own.

"He may be trying to find the bridge." Allura stated. "We should head back to where Coran and Hunk are."

"He might also be trying to get to the hangar." Matt pointed out.

She frowned at that. It was a good point, but also one that bothered her. She was certain that Thace would have departed with Keith and Lance by now, so there was nothing to worry about there, but...

She watched as the same thought struck Matt in the exact moment it struck her. His face drained of color, grip on his staff growing tight. "Pidge!"

"I'll contact her." Allura quickly assured him. "Even without power, so long as she has her helmet with her, I should be able to remain in contact with her and the other paladins."

Matt breathed a little easier at that. Giving him a weak smile, she lightly touched one of her earrings. She would have to thank her father for setting them so that they coordinated with the paladin's coms. They hadn't done that before- she had to wonder if he perhaps knew what was coming when he had chosen to put her and Coran to sleep.

"Pidge?" Allura said. "Pidge, can you come in?"

There was a slight pause, before Pidge's voice came in on the other side of the line. To her great relief, she sounded fine. "Pidge here. What's up, princess?"

"Trouble." Allura stated. "Shiro is loose somewhere on the Castle."

She heard Pidge suck in a breath. "Is he-?"

_Still brainwashed_ , she likely wanted to ask. "Very likely. Where are you?"

"I'm heading from the hangars back to the bridge." Pidge informed her. "Where are you?"

"In the med bay, with your brother." Allura told her. "Do you think you could join us? We could use a little help tracking him down."

"Copy that." Pidge said. "I haven't seen him, but if I run into him before I run into you, believe me, I'll let you know."

"Do." Allura said.

She didn't want to be rude- she was certain that Pidge was more than capable of holding her own, if she had been raiding Galra ships for nearly a deca-phoeb, but if even _Keith_ had struggled to fight Shiro, she failed to see how Pidge could beat him on her own. Granted, he had been likely held back by his own bond to the man, but who was to say that the same bond wouldn't hold Pidge back just the same?

From the way she and Matt spoke of Shiro, it was more than obvious that they had known him- possibly even were close. It didn't surprise her in the least- he had been the pilot of the Kerberos mission, the one Matt had been on. Space travel was a far more daunting process for humans than it was for Alteans, so knowing who you were going into space with was likely considered even wiser in their case than it was amongst her own people.

Frankly, she didn't care for the idea of forcing _any_ of the paladins to fight him.

Exhaling, she looked over towards Matt. He gave her a nervous smile, squinting in the dark. She could only hope that Lance and the others would be successful in their mission to deactivate the weapon, so that they could restore power to the Castle before the situation got much worse.

Somehow, she feared that it would.

* * *

Drawing in a long breath, Pidge squared her shoulders. She was fine. She was currently alone on a dark ship that had a brainwashed Shiro running around on it somewhere, all while they were under attack by the Galra Empire, but she was fine. She could handle this. No big deal.

All she had to do was meet up with Matt and Allura. She would be fine. She wasn't scared.

Okay, maybe she was a _little_ scared. Fifteen... no, twenty percent scared. That was it. That was a perfectly normal ratio of fright given the circumstances.

She had summoned her bayard pretty much as soon as Allura had informed her that the med bay had lost power, gripping the weapon tight in her hands. She didn't want to have to use it on Shiro, but better safe than sorry. She didn't know how merciful he'd be if they ran into each other.

From the sound of it? Not very.

Ugh. This would totally be easier to deal with if this didn't all feel like the set up of a horror movie. She just hoped she didn't have _first victim_ painted all over her.

Let's see- alone, isolated from everyone else, and tiny. Crap.

Still, she forced herself to remain calm. Her first instinct was to hurry, but she fought against it, instead making her way slowly up to the med bay. Once she made it to the elevator shaft, she'd be fine. She could jetpack the rest of the way up.

Creeping down the halls, she kept her steps quiet. Bayard held tight in her hands, she peeked out from around the corner. Once she got past this next bend, it would be a straight shot to the elevator shaft, and she'd be home free. Sure, she'd still have to go with Matt and Allura to actually track Shiro down, but there was a huge difference between dealing with him alone and having two other people to watch her back.

Good. Clear.

Racing towards the elevator shaft, she skidded to a halt in front of it. Using her bayard, she pried the doors open, shining the light installed in her armor's gauntlets upwards. Good. Looked like she could get through this way after all.

"Going somewhere?"

... _crap_.

Tensing, Pidge turned on her heel, holding her bayard defensively in front of her. She thought she knew what she expected to find when she did, but somehow, she was wrong.

Well, she wasn't _wrong_. It _was_ Shiro. Completely brainwashed, but definitely still Shiro. She just hadn't been prepared for how _not_ -Shiro he was at the same time.

What she remembered of him best was his warm smile, the one that filled her with confidence. This was the man who was going to fly her brother and father to Kerberos and back. The man who was going to make history with them. A man she could trust.

This wasn't that Shiro. This was the Champion.

She'd been warned about the cyborg arm, currently hanging limply by his side. Knowing that it didn't currently have a power source didn't make her feel any more confident. She was definitely going to need some backup.

"Allura," Pidge began, activating her coms, "-slight problem."

That was all she got out before Shiro attacked.

Rolling to avoid the blow, she fought the urge to yelp. Scrambling to her feet, Shiro wasted no time in pursuit- one thing was clear, he's _not_ letting her get back to the elevator shaft that easy. She can't figure out if he's been following her all this time or not, but somehow, she wouldn't be too surprised.

This was absolutely not the Shiro she knew.

Using her jetpack to help propel herself down the hallway faster, Pidge rounded the corner. Bracing herself, she gripped her bayard, ready for Shiro to follow behind- it took a second, but he did. Once he's in range, she fired her bayard, and while she has confidence in her aim, Shiro is just faster.

He dodged it. Dodged it and grabbed it. Left hand grasping the cord tight, the second she contemplates sending an electric shock down it is the same second he used it to pull her towards him. This time she _did_ yelp, unable to keep it in, just barely managing to collect her thoughts mid-panic enough to banish her bayard.

She barely scrambled out of the way of his next blow in time. It nicked her helmet instead- and she could hear something sparking inside of it that definitely wasn't supposed to be doing that. Yanking it off, she swore audibly underneath her breath, realizing the extent of the damage and the fact that it had probably just protected her skull from being similarly broken.

That's all the time Shiro gave her, because he's on her again in the next instant.

Dodging is about all she can do. He's faster than her bayard, but she summoned it again anyways. She doubted it'd be much use in close quarters combat, but it was better to have _something_ on hand to actually defend herself with than try to rely on her fists. She was pretty sure that the last time they met, Shiro wasn't anywhere near this fast or this strong, so it was safe to bet that he'd undergone enhancements beyond just that of his arm.

She really, _really_ wished it was just the arm.

But Allura got her distress message. She had to believe that she and Matt were on their way. She just had to hold out until they got here.

* * *

"Pidge? Pidge, come in!"

Swearing underneath her breath, Allura grabbed her staff. She should have known something like this would happen. She didn't even have to guess to know that Pidge had likely been attacked, and even worse, she had no idea where she was. Heading to the med bay, presumably, but there was no shortage of ground to cover between the main hangar and the med bay- she could be anywhere.

"Allura?" Matt asked. "What's wrong? What happened to Pidge?"

"I am afraid Shiro has found her first." Allura told him. "I have been trying to get to her over the coms, but they seem to have gone dead."

Matt swallowed, very clearly trying not to panic. "Okay, that's... that's bad. Is there any way we can find her?"

Allura shook her head. "If the Castle was active, I could search for her biorhythm, but..."

"Actually," Allura cut herself off, "-I take that back. There might be a way."

Matt looked relieved to hear it, so she could only hope that she was correct. "Hunk? Hunk, do you hear me?"

"I hear you loud and clear, princess." Hunk responded. "Is something wrong? Because uh, no offense, but that sounds like your _something is wrong_ voice."

"We need you to locate Pidge, and quickly." Allura told him. "Your armor should have a built in tracker that can locate your fellow paladins."

"Okay, uh... just give me a second to figure this out." Hunk trailed off, and she had to stop herself from shifting anxiously on her feet. Every tick that went by was a tick that Pidge was in danger. She could only hope that she could hold out for a short while longer.

"Okay, found it." Hunk said. "And Pidge. She's on the sixth level, pretty close to the elevators. She's uh, she's also moving around a lot. Did she...?"

"Encounter Shiro? I am afraid so." Allura confirmed, already on the move. Matt quickly fell into step behind her, likely only letting her take the lead because he had no idea where they were heading. "Matt and I will hurry there. You are to remain on standby with Coran until further notice."

"Got it."

"Did you find her?" Matt asked.

"Yes. Thankfully, she's close." Allura assured him. "We should be there in two doboshes."

Matt just nodded. She got the feeling that two doboshes was still far too long for his tastes, for which she could not blame him. Though she had never had any siblings of her own, she still understood the desire to protect ones family- even if she no longer had any of her own to protect.

She tucked that thought away. She could not afford to lose focus, not now. There were far more pressing matters to attend to than a ten thousand year old sense of loss.

Leading the way, Allura used the Castle's emergency access stairs to descend to the sixth level. It wasn't far, just about two levels down from where they were, but she still found herself taking the stairs four at a time, and she was quite certain Matt would be doing the same were he capable- instead he merely took them two at a time. Humans and Alteans might look alike, but they most certainly did not share the same physical limits.

She was just grateful she was in her pressure suit, and not her gown. It wasn't _impossible_ to fight in, but it was far from convenient.

They heard the sounds of the clash before they actually saw it- namely, the sound of Pidge's cry. That was all Matt needed to overtake her, adrenaline likely kicking in to give him a burst of speed that he would not be capable of otherwise. Not one to slack, she was hot on his heels, her borrowed staff tight in her grip.

Matt literally burst into the fray, and not a moment too soon, from the look of things. Any reservations he might have about fighting Shiro were put on hold, as he slammed the butt of his staff into his side, with enough force to get him to back away from the cornered, but hardly defeated, Pidge.

She allowed herself a momentary breath of relief at the sight of the green paladin. She looked a bit bruised, but it was nothing a few doboshes in a healing pod wouldn't fix. She also looked just as relieved to see them as she was to see her.

"Are you alright?" Allura inquired, just to be sure.

"Yeah, fine." Pidge said, almost seeming to brush her off, but more likely just trying to get back into the swing of battle as quickly as she could. "Thanks."

Allura spared a moment to smile, before she turned towards Shiro. It was her first time seeing him conscious, and if she didn't already know that he was simply being brainwashed, she never would have guessed it. She could find no hint of any internal struggle, nor of recognition, even when faced with two people he very much _should_ recognize. She hadn't had much time to read over the data Ulaz had brought them before the Castle lost power, but what she had read was disturbing.

She wished she could say that she was confident she could fix it, but she was uncertain. The basis of his manipulation _did_ appear to be some form of Altean alchemy, but as for the rest... Haggar was clearly toying with powers that she had never even heard of, much less knew anything about. Knowing that she was Altean only made her skin crawl.

Knowing that it was possible that she might actually be Honerva gave her a clue as to what those powers might be- but that did nothing to reassure her, only fill her with more dread. She had heard the stories from her father, and from Blaytz- the other paladins, Zarkon included, had always been loathe to talk about the creature that had come from the other side of the rift.

And from what she had heard, she could not blame them.

"So," Pidge began, drawing in a long breath, perhaps to steel herself, "-got any ideas how to take him down?"

"Hit him hard enough that he passes out?" Allura suggested.

Pidge just stared at her, something in her eyes clearly expressing that she had expected a better plan. She was afraid that she simply didn't have one. She had been trained in combat, yes, but never against a brainwashed opponent who likely had completely different pressure points than what she was used to. She couldn't even imagine a scenario in which she would have needed that before now.

"You know what," Pidge said finally, "-that works."

* * *

So the green paladin had sent a distress call.

Easily deflecting the attack of what must have been the green paladin's brother- the other escaped prisoner, the one who had been picked up by the rebellion, the Champion wasted no time in retaliating. Having only one functional arm put him at a disadvantage, but he was still stronger than either of the two humans.

Stronger than _any_ human, really, thanks to Haggar.

It was the Altean princess that was the problem. Seeing her step onto the battlefield took him by surprise- he had been too focused on the _princess_ part. He was quick to recall that she too, was a trained combatant- and with the natural strength that Alteans were gifted with, would doubtlessly be a fierce challenger.

But he had expected the red paladin to be as such, and the only thing he had done was disappoint him. That he had _lost_ to him in spite of that was his ultimate failing.

He had no intention of losing again. He would crush the green paladin and her brother, and capture the Altean princess, for the glory of the Galra Empire.

The former prisoner was slightly more proficient at combat than he'd anticipated. Not enough to cause him any concern, but at least enough to acknowledge. Someone must have taught him after he'd escaped, because his records indicated that he'd been sent to a work camp shortly after arrival, even though he had originally been bound for the arena. The records didn't specify _why_ , and he supposed it didn't really matter.

Something stung.

He tried to recall the prisoner's name- it had been on the records, they all had names on records, even if they were never used. He couldn't, but he guessed that didn't matter either. He could recall his prisoner number- _117-9874_ \- so that was enough.

He didn't have long to dwell on it before the Altean princess herself joined the fray, doing so with an admittedly impressive battle cry. He had to jump out of the way of her assault, staff striking down without mercy. Were the castle-ship made of weaker material, it likely would have crumpled under the force of her blow. In spite of himself, he felt himself grin- now here was the challenge that he had been seeking. It would seem that the Altean princess would not disappoint him where the red paladin had.

The green paladin too, recovered and rejoined the battle. Three against one. Not the worst odds he'd faced, but under the circumstances, not the best either. He had tried to restore power to his arm, but hadn't managed to do so- whatever Ulaz had done to it had completely knocked the systems dead. Without something to jumpstart it, it would remain that way.

It helped that the three were a mess. Left alone, the green paladin and her brother could have worked well together, but they lacked any coordination with the Altean princess. If they were smart, they would have left the fighting to her, but instead they kept throwing themselves into the fray.

The staff strikes of the green paladin's brother were easily deflected by his left arm- not a trick he would try with the princess, not unless he wanted to have _two_ disabled arms instead of merely one. What the green paladin lacked in strength, she made up for in mobility- he doubted she would have been able to last against him for as long as she had otherwise. Haggar had made him fast, but she was slight, and that brought with it a natural quickness that he simply couldn't obtain.

But just like the red paladin, they almost didn't seem to _want_ to fight.

Aside from his initial strike, none of the rebel's strikes felt _real_. It was absurd to think that he was holding back when it was clear that he was much stronger than him, but he was. He'd learned to recognize as much in the arena.

It wasn't until he opened his mouth that he understood _why_.

"Shiro," the rebel spoke slowly, "-we don't need to do this."

_Shiro_. Again with that name. Did they have him mistaken for someone else?

No. Both the red paladin and this rebel- they were too resolute for it to be a mistake. There was a spike of sharp pain in his head at the thought, enough to render him sloppy. It lasted for just a second, but a second was long enough for the Altean princess to take advantage of, slamming the butt of her staff right into the pit of his stomach with the kind of force that would have broken bone had it not been for Haggar's enhancements.

All it did now was make him stumble.

He quickly retaliated, but the princess' choice of weapon combined with her physical strength made her a difficult opponent. If his arm still worked, his sword would have made short work of her- he had to quickly remind himself that Haggar desired her alive, not dead.

"Shiro-"

He didn't let the rebel finish. He'd let down his guard. Dropping into it, he struck without mercy. The princess he needed alive- the paladin and her brother he did not.

* * *

" _Matt_!"

He swore he saw his life flash before his eyes. Shiro's strike had been aimed to kill. If Pidge hadn't stepped in, he'd probably be dead already.

As it was, Shiro staggered back, the blade of Pidge's bayard sunk into his wrist. It was shallow, but good enough to stick- and the moment she realized it had struck, she didn't even hesitate to unload what had to be enough volts of electricity to cause a man of Shiro's size to black out.

He didn't though- he howled in pain, sure, but he remained standing. The sight was enough to make them all freeze- judging from Pidge's expression, she'd been sure that should have been enough wattage to knock him out cold.

He smirked.

Shiro _smirked_.

It wasn't like Shiro _never_ smirked. He could be pretty humble, but there were times when even he would get a little boastful. Somehow, such moments only managed to make him _more_ likable, not less, something that was only possible because he was Takashi Shirogane, the Galaxy Garrison's star pilot and all around Golden Boy.

Now his smirk just sent a chill down his spine.

Probably because it was accompanied by his right hand moving, when it definitely shouldn't be able to do that. Grabbing Pidge's bayard with it, he violently yanked it out of his left wrist, ignoring the blood doing so caused him to shed- it was almost like he didn't even _care_.

"I guess I owe you my thanks, paladin." Shiro said. It was the first time he'd heard him speak, and already, Matt wished he'd just kept his mouth shut. "You fixed my arm."

The eyes were bad enough. But Shiro's voice, with that cold tone? He didn't know if he could take that.

Pidge, at least, recovered quickly enough to send her bayard away before it could be used against her, but in that gap, Shiro attacked. With a flash, a sword made of pure energy emitted from his right arm- a sword that would have struck true, if it hadn't been for Allura's quick thinking.

Stepping in, the princess blocked the blow with her staff, but the borrowed weapon couldn't hold underneath it. That didn't stop the princess, however- now left with two pieces of her staff, she immediately went on the counterattack, slamming one so hard into Shiro's jaw that he was nearly afraid she was going to break it.

All it did was cause him to stagger back.

"Not bad." Shiro admitted. "Less of a disappointment than your paladins, at least."

"I will take that as a compliment." Allura cooly observed. "But I will not have you speaking ill of my paladins."

Matt swallowed, clutching his staff harder. He could totally understand now why Keith had so much trouble fighting Shiro. It wasn't that he couldn't guess why before, but... _knowing_ it and _understanding_ it were two completely different things. He thought the fact that he'd already had an encounter with the Champion would have helped.

It didn't.

He'd looked up to Shiro. Admired him. He owed him his _life_.

Now he had to _fight_ him. Some Shiro that wasn't quite Shiro. A Shiro that didn't even react to his _own name_. He didn't know if he could do this.

But he had to. He had to, because Keith had likely thought the exact same thing. And if Keith, his _brother_ , had managed to swallow that all back to fight him, then so could he. Keith had gotten him here- now it was their job to make sure he _stayed_ here.

For someone who always had his little sister's back, that was the least he could do.

* * *

The electrocution had been unexpected, and if he was being honest, immensely painful. Pain was not something he was conditioned to feel- another improvement, thanks to Haggar, but the shock had been enough to overpower that. She must have intended to knock him out- since it was obvious that not even the princess was in this battle to kill.

It didn't. All it had done was give him exactly the jump he needed. Now it was still three against one, but had the advantage of having his arm back online.

He was still bleeding from the entry wound the green paladin's weapon had left in his wrist, but that could be dealt with after he dealt with these three. The heat from his sword would be enough to cauterize it. He wouldn't get a chance before then- to her credit, the princess was relentless.

Relentless, but not trying to kill him.

Did they think they could question him? He wanted to laugh at that. He would never betray the Galra Empire. He had sworn his loyalty to Emperor Zarkon, and nothing could shake that.

Not even the strange name they kept calling him. Not even the way the name _Matt_ had briefly made his head sting, or the way the horror in his eyes when he realized that he was about to die had only compounded the pain.

All of these were things he could report to Haggar later. Flaws she could fix.

There was a low rumble in the back of his thoughts at that. A rumble, not a sting- and for a split second, it was enough to distract him. Long enough for the rebel- _Matt_ \- to shake off his stupor and go on the offensive. Readying his sword, he prepared to counterattack- only to be thrown off his feet, blasted down the hallway by a powerful burst of energy that seemed to come out of nowhere.

It had been enough to knock him completely off his feet. Groaning, he looked up, catching a flash of white and yellow- the yellow paladin, then.

"Hunk!" The green paladin shouted in surprise. "You just-!"

"I didn't know it would _hit_!" The yellow paladin- _Hunk_ \- hurriedly said, his eyes wide in panic.

He scoffed. The princess had sought out paladins, _warriors_ , but somehow, what she had come up with were mere children. No wonder they were all afraid to land a killing blow.

Still, that attack had done some damage. His bruised ribs had healed by the time he had come to, but they had cracked again, worse this time, under the force of the blast. The fact that he'd taken such a hit by _pure accident_ infuriated him.

The prospect of being defeated by children who were afraid to kill was even more humiliating than being defeated by a halfbreed whose heart wasn't even in the fight. The Galra Empire had no need for those who were not strong- and it had been his strength that had gotten him this far. If he were to fail here...

He grimaced. If he were to fail here, Haggar would likely return him to the gladiator arena. Strip him of his title, his rank. All things he had worked so hard to gain.

Staggering to his feet, he pressed a hand against his ribs. The addition of an extra paladin changed nothing. Now that he had seen the damage his weapon could do, he would be hesitant to fire it again.

His arm hummed. If that was how they were going to do it, he saw no reason to hold back either. It wasn't as if Haggar needed the Castle intact.

That was when he heard it. The sound- the _roar_ \- shook him to his very core. The blast that he was about to fire sputtered and died, for a second, horror at what he was about to do taking place of cold determination. What had he-?

"The black lion," he heard the princess whisper underneath her breath, "-it woke up."

The black lion. Emperor Zarkon's lion. The one that he had been lead to believe had been destroyed ten thousand years ago. It was here.

He felt himself smirk. Change of plans.

If he could return the black lion to its true paladin, his mistakes would be forgiven, and his rank would be secured. The Altean princess and her fledging paladins would never even stand a chance.

* * *

"The black lion," the words tumbled out of her mouth in disbelief before she could stop them, "-it woke up."

_Impossible_. Yes, it was true that they now had all five lions, the prerequisite to wake the black lion, but there was no paladin. Without a paladin, the black lion could not wake. And yet, it had. Not only that, but it had called to someone- she had felt as much in her bones. As much as she wished that meant it had been calling to her, she knew that was not true.

It was only when Shiro bolted, that it sunk into her.

"Wha-!" Pidge squeaked. "He's getting away!"

Snapping to attention, Allura momentarily put aside her thoughts. She had a feeling she knew where he was headed, but just in case she was wrong...

"Pidge, Matt, come with me!" Allura shouted. "Hunk, return to the bridge."

"But-!" Hunk protested.

"Please," Allura pleaded, "-do not leave Coran alone."

He was the closest thing to family she had left, and at his age, he lacked the strength to properly defend himself. An Altean's strength began to wane late in life, and for some it was worse- unfortunately, one of those was Coran.

Hunk swallowed, seeming to understand. He nodded, and though it seemed he was loathe to leave them, he did so, heading back in the direction of the bridge. Given the results, she was not angry at him for leaving his post, but the faster he returned to it, the more reassured she would feel.

"Come," Allura turned on her heel, knowing that they could not waste any further time, "-let us go."

Shiro had already managed to get a lead on them. Thankfully, she had anticipated this- it was why she had asked Ulaz to stand watch in front of the black lion's hangar. Leaving someone that she was not certain if she fully trusted yet in charge of a task so important was a gamble, but it was either that, or leave the bridge of the ship defenseless.

"Where is he going?" Pidge yelled. "He's not trying to flee, is he?"

"No." Allura said, certain that he was not. "I think he's going for the black lion."

"The black lion?" Matt asked. "Why?"

"Because," Allura frowned, "-I think Shiro is its paladin."

The sheer urgency of the situation was likely the only thing preventing the siblings from freezing in their tracks right there. She understood. She knew how absurd the statement sounded. Why would the black lion choose someone whose mind wasn't even fully with them as its paladin? It made no sense.

And yet, it did. The timing of the black lion's roar... if Shiro had been allowed to fire that blast, even if they had all managed to get out of the way in time, it would have heavily damaged the Castle. From the way Matt and Hunk had described it, the cannon built into his arm was incredibly powerful, so she did not doubt that the damage would have been severe.

The black lion had stopped that.

Perhaps what the black lion sensed was not the current Shiro- not the Champion, but rather, the Shiro that was. The Shiro that _should_ be.

And that gave her an idea. It was risky, yes. But it was a risk she was willing to take.

* * *

Now here was a surprise.

He didn't think the princess would be so stupid as to leave the black lion unguarded. He just didn't expect that guard to be _Ulaz_.

"So," he began, "-you _are_ a traitor."

Ulaz did not flinch. He merely drew his blade, only looking momentarily bothered by the fact that his arm had its power restored.

He truly was grateful to the green paladin- grateful enough that he would grant her a quick death, painless. It was _only_ for that reason- and not because when he thought about killing the green paladin, something deep inside him almost seemed to rebel. He assumed it was just his weakness shining through again- Haggar would be able to correct that.

"In order to be a traitor," Ulaz began, his tone impassive, "-I would have had to be true to my oath. I never was."

A bold admission. He powered up his arm in response, forming his sword. Though the shape of it was different, the blade Ulaz carried was the same type as the knife the red paladin had wielded, right down to the matching emblem on the hilt. Perhaps they had been working together- inside information would explain the ease with which the small crew of two had been able to raid so many Galra ships.

He lunged. His strike was true, but Ulaz was quick, deflecting it. Luxite was too strong a metal for his sword to slice through, so they simply clashed instead. His ribs throbbed, and his left wrist stung where he had burned the gash closed. He didn't doubt that the princess and her child-paladins were hot on his heels.

He would have to finish this quickly.

Once he did, he could claim the black lion for the glory of his Emperor. With its power, he could seize the rest of the Voltron lions, and Haggar could have both the Altean princess and the red paladin to do with as she pleased. It would be a great triumph.

"You're a fool to betray our Emperor." He told him. "Once he has the black lion, his retribution will be swift."

Ulaz did not look impressed. "Zarkon is not my Emperor. Nor is he yours, Shiro."

_Shiro_. This time, the name _did_ cause him to flinch, if only just because Ulaz being the one to say it caught him so off guard. _Was_ he this Shiro?

No, that wasn't possible. He was the Champion. He needn't be anything else.

The black lion roared again, and this time it filled his mind, shaking his very thoughts. He was-

-and then he was on the floor, Ulaz's blade pressed to his neck, leg pressed into him so as to render his right arm useless and his left pinned. But he did not go for the finishing blow. He almost seemed to be waiting- for what, he struggled to guess.

"Ulaz!"

Ah. The Altean princess, then. Narrowing his eyes, he adjusted his head, peering back at her. She appeared cross for the span of a second, before she seemed to realize that Ulaz was merely keeping him pinned, and not actually trying to kill him, at which point, she simply looked relieved.

He could not understand _why_.

"Princess Allura," Ulaz began, "-the black lion calls."

"It does." Allura agreed. "Do you have him secured?"

"Matt and I can sit on him if you need us to." The green paladin supplied. He grit his teeth- exactly how much humiliation did these child-paladins expect him to endure?

"I believe I can manage." Ulaz remarked, having the audacity to sound almost _amused_. "But thank you for your offer."

He watched as the Altean princess approached him, hovering above him for the span of a second before she crouched down. There was a certain determination in her gaze, bold and unrelenting that he couldn't help but admire. She may be the enemy, but-

-the low rumble that seemed to have taken root in the back of his mind viscerally disagreed with that sentiment. She was _not_ the enemy.

Gritting his teeth, he glowered at the princess. "What do you intend to do to me?"

Brainwash him? He had been told of Alteans and their strange powers. There was a reason that their race had been wiped out- they were dangerous, _foul_. Manipulating his mind would be a simple trick for their witch-princess.

Allura merely frowned. She almost looked as if she were pitying him, and any admiration quickly turned to revulsion. He was a proud soldier of the Galra Empire, Haggar's own Champion- not someone to be _pitied_.

"Perhaps it will seem that way to you," Allura merely stated, "-but _you_ do not belong here."

She said it so simply, as if she were not casually invalidating his entire existence. He opened his mouth to protest, but could not find the words. As if some part of him instinctively knew it was true.

Allura drew in a long breath, before looking away from him, and at those gathered. "I am going to attempt to link his mind to the black lion."

"Uh," the green paladin hesitated, "-isn't that dangerous?"

"Yes," Allura admitted, "-but it may very well be the key to undo Haggar's brainwashing."

He felt something in the pit of his stomach freeze. Him? Brainwashed? No. He was here by choice. Haggar had offered him this role, and he had accepted it, willingly.

But _had_ he?

Something stung, only this time, it was as if his brain were on fire. He was only dimly aware that Allura had placed her hands on either side of his head, a faint blue glow just barely visible in his peripheral. The pain in his head spiked, growing in strength and fire, seeming to burn away all that he was, culminating-

-culminating in a _roar_. One so loud and clear that it broke apart the web of lies, the one that he had been ensnared by for too long.

No. He _hadn't_ chosen this. It had been forced on him. At the same time she had granted him rank and status, Haggar had stripped him of his name and will- leaving behind only a shell in his place, one to be filled up in his absence by the one known as the Champion.

But he wasn't the Champion. He _wasn't_ a loyal solider of the Galra Empire. He never had been.

He was Takashi Shirogane, of Earth. Pilot of the Kerberos mission, a lieutenant at the Galaxy Garrison.

And, he thought, finally understanding the roar the filled his head- the paladin of the black lion.


	30. raid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oh great," Lance rolled his eyes, "-so we're just dealing with the evil emperor's best buddy here. No big deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, chapter thirty! What a milestone! I hope to have this story wrapped up before we reach forty chapters- ideally before thirty-five chapters, but you never know how things will work out until you actually write them. That said, we are pretty close to the end! But don't worry- we've still got some time left before this story comes to a close, so stick with me until then!

Growing up as the youngest of five siblings, Lance thought he was familiar with the concept of _chaos_. But if there was one thing he had learned, it was that space had this way of proving him wrong.

Because this situation? Chaotic.

First it turned out that his hero, Takashi Shirogane, had been abducted by evil aliens. Then it turned out he was the chosen paladin of an ancient alien war machine- and for that matter, so was Hunk. Now he was in space, where he had learned that not only was Shiro being brainwashed by an evil alien Empire, but that the half-Galra paladin named Keith turned out to be _that_ Keith and had been experimented on so now he could drain the life force- or _quintessence_ , he guessed- out of living beings.

Now? Now he was in a cloaked ship, with a pair of Galra, heading to a Galra cruiser to disable some kind of weird energy weapon thingy that could disable the crystals that they used to power the Castle. Which somehow negatively affected Keith at the same time. Oh, and did he mention the fact that there was a creepy space witch involved? Because there was _totally_ a creepy space witch involved.

And here he thought things couldn't possibly get weirder.

Like he said- space had a way of proving him wrong.

"Are you sure they can't see us?" Lance asked, trying not to sound too nervous.

He couldn't help it! They barely knew this guy, other than that he had apparently helped Keith escape from this Central Command place. Oh, and that he used to work for _Zarkon_ , so there was _that_ fun fact.

Ugh. He was starting to understand how Hunk felt, being anxious all the time. It was awful.

"Trust me," Keith rasped, his voice sounding scratchier than it usually did, almost like he had a cold, "-if Pidge made it, it'll work."

Lance looked back towards him, the deep furrow of his brow only managing to grow more pronounced. Keith had hauled himself up onto his feet, using the wall to help balance himself as he stumbled towards the cockpit area. Not that this ship had any clearly defined areas, given that it was basically just a wide open space, but look- it was where Thace was, and he was the one flying the ship, so therefore, it was the cockpit.

"Are you sure you should be on your feet?" Lance asked. "You don't look so good."

"It's fine." Keith grunted. "Leaving the Castle made me feel better."

Lance hummed, somehow doubtful of that claim. But then again, Keith always looked like shit- and he didn't just mean that in the fashion disaster sense, though he was that.

Seriously, those bags under his eyes? It was like the dude never slept.

Thace glanced back towards the red paladin, his lips set in a tight frown. He couldn't tell if that was concern or not. "Perhaps you should remain onboard, while I locate the weapon. The blue paladin can protect you."

"Okay, first of all, the name's _Lance_ ," Lance cut in, "-and second of all, I'm not about to let you run around a Galra cruiser by yourself. I still don't trust you."

"And I don't need protection." Keith added, even though right now he needed support just to stand.

Though Thace looked skeptical of Keith's claim, he didn't seem bothered by the fact that he had just told him flat out that he didn't trust him. Maybe he was just used to it. And look- if he was wrong, if these Blade guys really _could_ be trusted, he'd apologize. But not until he knew for sure.

"You cannot be left alone, not in your condition." Thace merely said. "Do not forget that the Galra Empire seeks your capture."

Keith just grunted, clutching at where his paladin armor covered his heart. Lance frowned. Earlier, when he had shown them all those freaky ass runes or whatever that had been etched over his heart, he hadn't exactly missed the weird way that they had _glowed_. And now this weird EMP weapon or whatever was affecting him?

"What _is_ your condition, exactly?" Lance asked. They hadn't really gotten an explanation, just that whatever this weapon was, it somehow hurt him.

Keith just shot him a look, and for a second, he thought he'd just clam up again. But instead he just dropped his gaze, his brows knotting together. "It's hard to explain."

"Perhaps I can help." Thace stated. "I read over Haggar's initial notes."

Keith just gave him a curt nod, but didn't quite look at him, instead leaning back against the wall. He closed his eyes, and seemed to be trying to control his breathing. His color looked maybe a little better, but that could just be the change in lighting.

"In order to absorb and filter quintessence, a Balmeran crystal is needed." Thace stated. "In order to create one with the ability to drain quintessence, it was necessary to fuse a crystal to their own life force."

Lance blinked. He thought he understood that, but...

"There's a crystal fused to my heart." Keith finished.

The words sunk into him. Oh. _Oh_. Okay, that made sense. _Horrifying_ sense, but still, sense. "So, what? If the crystal is shut down or whatever for too long, are you going to die?"

"Pretty much?" Keith frowned, before looking towards Thace, almost questioningly.

"Yes," Thace said, making it sound so simple, "-you will die."

Keith grimaced, but almost seemed to take the news with grim resignation. And that... that just didn't sit right with him. Nobody should be _that_ ready for death, especially not someone who was only like, a year older than him, tops.

"Okay, but if we shut down this weapon, that should fix it, right?" Lance asked.

Look, maybe he wasn't wild about Keith- couldn't stand him, actually, but it wasn't like he wanted him to _die_. Sure, he didn't totally trust him, but he wasn't a jackass.

"It should." Thace told him. "We should soon be within docking range. Be ready."

Keith just gave him a curt nod, squaring his shoulders and forcing himself onto his feet. He didn't know if he actually looked better, or if he was just faking it. Lance had never realized before just how helpful pupils were in establishing how a person was feeling, but man, were they ever.

The actual color of his eyes seemed less... _bright_ , he guessed? How should he know? It wasn't like he was an expert on sick aliens.

"I'm coming with you." Keith stated.

Thace looked like he wanted to protest, but decided against it. Maybe he just didn't want to waste time arguing. "Fine. But I would rather bring back both paladins to Princess Allura, _alive_."

Keith held his gaze. "Got it."

Thace heaved a short sigh. "Come. Once we get on to the ship itself, it should provide you some protection from the EMP's effects."

"Yeah?" Lance asked. "Why's that?"

Keith just stared at him blankly, like he was some kind of an idiot. He bristled, glaring right back at him. "Galra cruisers are powered by Balmeran crystals too."

Oh. Right. Yeah, that made sense. If the EMP thingy affected the cruiser too, it would have probably lost power, and then they probably wouldn't be able to even _use_ the EMP thingy. It made sense that they probably had some way to protect the ship itself from it.

"Right, got it." Lance said, summoning his bayard. "So all we have to do is find this thing and like... blow it up, right?"

Thace merely arched a brow. "I was thinking more along the lines of disabling it. I have a few timed bombs we can use to destroy it from a distance, but blowing it up will only let the Galra know both our location, and the fact that we are on their ship to begin with."

Keith just huffed. "Never stopped me before."

"Yes," Thace remarked, "-I am quite familiar with your... illustrious career. I am also quite aware of the numerous times you have nearly gotten yourself killed."

Keith narrowed his eyes. "You've been following me?"

"Haggar designed you to be a living weapon." Thace simply stated. "Letting you out of our sight was never an option."

Keith looked like there was something else he wanted to say to that, but he just bit it back. "Fine. Let's just get this over with. Preferably _before_ I die."

Thace merely inclined his head in response to that. The ship shook for a second, but judging from the fact that Thace hadn't so much as reacted, he was going to guess that was what was _supposed_ to happen.

"We've docked." Thace informed them. "I've worked on many cruisers similar to this one. Once we're onboard, follow my lead."

* * *

Once onboard the cruiser, it got easier to breathe.

Keith exhaled, long and deep, feeling tension wash out of his shoulders. Resting his hand over his heart, he could feel a dull _thrum_ , even past his paladin armor. Guess Thace was right.

Thace turned to him. "How is your condition?"

"Good." Keith told him. "I should be able to manage."

It wasn't perfect, but it was better. The _thrum_ of the crystal was weak, like the EMP was still affecting it, just dulled. Eyes darting around the ship, he noticed that the lights seemed a little dimmer than usual, so whatever protection the ship had, it probably wasn't perfect.

Thace's idea of using stealth was sounding more and more appealing.

"What, not a damsel in distress anymore?" Lance teased.

Keith narrowed his eyes. He couldn't figure out if there were barbs to his words or not. "I'm not a _damsel_ , Lance."

He wasn't sure what Lance's problem with him was. They barely even knew each other, and he was already constantly trying to pick fights with him. And sure, maybe he responded to them, but _Lance_ was the one who had decided to get on his case in the first place. He knew he'd been suspicious of him too- probably still was, for all he knew.

Lance just snorted. "You'd make a lousy damsel anyways. Is dry skin a Galra thing, or have you just never heard of moisturizer?"

"Look, can we just focus?" Keith snapped. "We need to disable this weapon. Thace, do you have any ideas where it could be?"

"I might, but I would need to check this cruiser's identification code first." Thace said, seeming to take his exchange with Lance with remarkable stride. "That way we can find out who we are dealing with."

"I thought it was that creepy space witch." Lance frowned.

"No. Haggar might have sent them here, but this is not her cruiser." Thace said, resolute.

"Thace is probably right." Keith agreed. "If Haggar was here, she would have sensed me."

And he would have sensed _her_. She might not be able to track him by the quintessence she put inside of him, but she could still sense him when he was close. He knew that- he just hadn't expected it to be a two way street.

Maybe in the future, it might be useful. He should probably tell Allura about it, at least.

Lance's frown just deepened, but he shrugged. "Okay. Where do we need to go to find this... identification code thingy?"

"I should be able to access it from any console." Thace said. "The main concern will be avoiding detection by the sentries. Each cruiser has its own patrol pattern."

"Guess we'll just have to take it slow." Keith said, pulling out his knife.

For a brief second, Thace's gaze dropped to it, but he switched focus so quickly that he thought he'd almost imagined it. He bit his lip. He still wanted to ask about it- about his mother- but now definitely wasn't the time.

"I'm guessing we can't just shoot them." Lance said, his own gaze falling to his knife. "Or you know, stab them."

"Shooting would attract too much attention." Thace told him. "It is why the Blade of Marmora typically does not use pistols."

"So... stabbing works?" Keith guessed.

"Stabbing would work." Thace agreed. "But let us try and avoid that too. Unless you have a place to hide the damaged sentries afterwards."

No, he definitely didn't have that. Good point.

He was used to raiding ships, but he wasn't used to being this _subtle_ about it. Usually, Pidge would hide their ship from any radar scans until they were right on top of them, and then they would blast their way inside, and take whatever they wanted. It had taken a bit of trial and error, but they had eventually found the best places on the cruisers to target to make a big payday.

Not to mention find the information that Pidge wanted- hell, that had been their main priority at first until they realized just how hard it was to make money out here the honest way if you were a wanted outlaw- the piracy was just incidental. But after the first few attempts, she got so good at getting into Galra systems that she could basically do it from anywhere.

Hit them fast, hit them hard, and hopefully get away quick enough so that they wouldn't be able to chase them. That last part was always the part they had the most issue with.

But none of that really applied now. He doubted this weapon was stored in the same location as basic cargo, or even with their other artillery. He hated to admit it, but his skills wouldn't be of much use here.

Best just to put his trust into Thace, then.

The real question was if _Lance_ was ready to do that or not. Looking up towards the blue paladin, Keith frowned. If he suspected he didn't trust him, then it was blatantly obvious that Lance didn't trust Thace. He'd even said as much.

He didn't have time to dwell on it. Thace signaled for them to move, guiding them to the other end of the hall. Once there, he motioned for them to stop, and they stood, backs pressed against the wall as a pair of sentries walked past the hall that intersected with the one they were hiding in. Thankfully, they didn't notice them.

Once the sentries passed, they were on the move again. They crossed the hall, and Thace pressed his hand against a panel, granting them access to the room it locked.

As the door slid shut behind them, Lance frowned. "Shouldn't they have you like... locked out of the system or something?"

Keith just snorted. "Galra ships are all biolocked. They don't even have _me_ locked out of the system."

"Zarkon assumes that his authority over the Galra is so absolute, that none would dare betray him." Thace observed, accessing the console in the front of the room. "The Blade of Marmora uses that belief to our advantage."

Thace had guided them to some kind of navigation room, though he wasn't exactly familiar with those. The transport ship that he had stolen was too small to have one, and there was almost never anything valuable stored in them, so for the most part, he and Pidge had left them alone.

He watched as Thace accessed the system, eyes fixed on the blade that was sheathed at his back. Was his mother doing undercover work like he had been doing before? Did she... did she know that he had been held prisoner?

Did she know what Haggar had done to him?

Did she know, and opt not to do anything? Maybe it was true- maybe she just didn't care about him. She had _left_ him after all. He knew how important the war was, but was he just not a good enough reason to stick around? What about his dad? Hadn't she been in love with him?

_Had_ she been in love with him?

He clenched his fists, paladin armor preventing his claws from digging into his palms. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about this. But with the answers so close...

At the console, Thace narrowed his eyes. "Keith, do you remember the Galra commander who chased after you when you found the green lion?"

Keith blinked. "Kind of hard to- wait, you were there too?"

"I was." Thace stated simply. "I would have intervened had the situation called for it, but you appeared to have the matter well in hand."

Snapping his mouth shut, Keith narrowed his eyes. Just how long had Thace been following him? Ever since he had left Earth? Even before that? How had he never even noticed?

"Wait, what commander are we talking about here?" Lance asked. "Because just for the record, I wasn't there."

Keith just heaved a sigh. "When Pidge, Matt, Allura, and I were trying to track down the green lion, we only had the system to go off of. Someone in the black market sold us out, so we had a Galra cruiser on our tail that jumped out of hyperspace on us halfway into our search."

"Wait," he frowned, turning back to Thace, "-is that who commands this ship?"

"I'm afraid it is." Thace told him. "Commander Sendak. He's nearly as old as Zarkon, and just as vile. Before he began conquering worlds, he was considered Zarkon's right hand. In many senses, he still is."

Huh. Guess he hadn't died.

"Oh great," Lance rolled his eyes, "-so we're just dealing with the evil emperor's best buddy here. No big deal."

Thace merely frowned. "Is sarcasm common among your species?"

"In some more than others. It's a defense mechanism." Keith observed, glancing over towards Lance, who just shrugged. "Okay, so we're dealing with Sendak here. Any idea what he's trying to accomplish?"

"I am afraid not." Thace admitted. "But whatever it is, it cannot be good."

Yeah, he could guess that much. His thoughts turned back to those they had left behind on the Castle- to Pidge and Matt, Allura and Coran, Hunk... and Shiro. Gritting his teeth, he narrowed his eyes. Was Sendak trying to take back Shiro? He hadn't gone through the trouble of fighting his own brother just to have him taken away again.

But there was nothing he could do about that. If he left the cruiser, his body would just start to shut down again. His best bet at being useful was staying here and completing his mission. He would just have to trust Pidge and the others to handle things back on the Castle.

"So... what do we do now?" Lance asked.

"Our objective hasn't changed." Thace stated. "We destroy the weapon."

"Do you know where it is?" Keith asked.

"Yes."

* * *

It was on the bridge. _Of course_ it was on the bridge.

Of all the luck. This day was just getting worse and worse. And here he thought he'd spend the rest of the day geeking out with Hunk about the fact that he was a paladin now too. But no. He was here, crawling through the dirty vents of a Galra ship, trying to get a peek of the bridge.

Seriously, would it kill the Galra to clean their vents once in awhile? And why was _he_ the one stuck doing this!? Keith was shorter than him, so _he_ should be the one doing this, not him!

Biting back his complaints, Lance crawled forward. He was doing this for Hunk, he reminded himself- Hunk and Shiro. They had both been left back on the Castle, and he was worried about them both. Sure, Shiro was all brainwashed and crazy right now, but the princess could fix that, right? Besides, the guy was his _hero_ \- and him, pass up on a chance to save his hero? You had to be dreaming.

The stuff they had said about this _Sendak_ sounded bad- _real_ bad. He might have joked about it, but anyone who could be considered the right hand of an evil ten thousand year old emperor had to be serious bad news. And that guy was targeting the Castle right now?

You know, the Castle where Hunk was? His best friend? The guy who covered for him in the third grade when he had nearly gotten caught sneaking into the principal's office on some stupid dare? That Castle and that Hunk?

Yeah, no. There was no way he was going to sit around and do nothing while that was happening. Even if it did mean crawling through the filthiest vents he'd ever been in.

( _Yes_ , he'd been in a vent before. Just once. It had been a weird day.)

"You see anything?"

Lance grit his teeth. He did not want to have to deal with Keith's voice in his ear right now, but he guessed he had no choice. "Give me a second, I'm not there yet."

Grumbling a little, Lance crept forward. There was a panel up ahead that lead to the bridge, but there was no way to see through it. He'd been warned about that ahead of time by Thace, who apparently had spent his fair share of time in the vents of Galra ships himself. Pushing out the panel just a smidgen, he peeked out of it, trying to get a view of the bridge.

He didn't see why they couldn't just burst in there and take out the whole ship along with the weapon. Something about it being too dangerous.

"Alright, I have a view of the bridge." Lance whispered.

"Great. Do you see anything that could be the weapon?" Keith asked.

Lance frowned, trying to get a better look. "I don't think... no wait, yeah, yeah, I think I see something. It's like a big weird... thing."

"You don't think you could describe it a little better?" Keith sniped.

"Hey, you try to describe alien tech when you didn't even know they were real like, a week ago." Lance snapped right back, by some miracle remembering to keep his voice down. "It's big, it's gray, and it's glowing purple."

"You just described most of the ship." Keith pointed out.

"Uh, no," Lance corrected, "-some parts of the ship glow green."

He could almost _hear_ Keith roll his eyes- still a weird move even if he knew he used to have actual pupils to go with it. He tried not to dwell on that- about how all this time he thought he was chasing a ghost, only for him to turn out to be alive and somehow _still_ a better pilot than him.

Just focus on the mission, Lance. There are people down there who are counting on you.

"Look, point is, the weapon is definitely here." Lance told him.

Keith just audibly sighed. "Fine. Do you see any sign of Sendak?"

He wanted to say that he didn't even know what this _Sendak_ looked like, but he guessed it didn't actually matter. He didn't see _any_ purple aliens on the bridge, just a bunch of robots. That... probably wasn't good.

"It's weird," he began, scanning the bridge again, just to be sure, "-there's no actual Galra on the bridge. Just sentries."

"What do you mean there's no Galra on the bridge?" Keith asked- and wow, he could hear that frown. "Sendak should be there."

"I mean, there's no Galra on the bridge." Lance repeated.

Keith sucked in a breath, and he swore he heard him curse. "Okay. Just hang tight."

"Hang tight," Lance repeated, "-in the vent?"

"Unless you want to take on all of those sentries yourself?" Keith ventured.

"Nope, you know what." Lance quickly said. "I'm good."

"Good." Keith told him. "Thace and I should be there soon."

He just groaned as the line went dead. Sure, not having Sendak on the bridge helped, especially given that their first plan was that they would use his bayard to remotely destroy the weapon and then just hope he could get out of the vents fast enough to escape retribution. Thace had said something about a _mechanical arm_ , and if it was anywhere near as wicked as the one Shiro was sporting, then that was so far down on the list of things he didn't want to deal with that he was pretty sure he'd run out of paper before he even got there.

But Sendak not being on the bridge? That meant he could be like, _anywhere_. Maybe not in the vents- god, he hoped he wasn't in the vents, that would be fucking terrifying, but basically anywhere else. Maybe he was somewhere else on the ship, closing in on Keith and Thace's location. Maybe he was down on Arus.

Or maybe he was in the Castle. That was the thought he liked the least.

Unfortunately, it was also the one that made the most sense.

"Okay," Keith's voice popped back on the coms, "-Thace and I are in position."

"I take it there's a new plan." Lance observed.

"You take out the weapon, like we planned." Keith told him. "Thace and I will storm the bridge. If we take out the cruiser, the fighters attacking the Castle will lose power and it'll be one less thing to worry about."

"Got it." Lance said, shifting his hold on the panel a bit so he could summon his bayard. It took a little bit of doing, but eventually he positioned it right so that he could fire it one handed. It wouldn't be easy, but he could manage. "I'll take out the weapon on the count of three."

Keith just grunted in acknowledgement, and Lance fought the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he slowly began counting down, fixing the weapon in his sights. Once he reached three, he fired.

It was a direct hit- but just be safe, he fired two more rounds. The weapon exploded into sparks, prompting all hell to break loose on the bridge. Before the sentries even had time to react, the bridge doors opened, and he swore all he saw was a flash of red and white before Keith lunged on the first sentry he saw, shoving his knife into it with what was probably more force than actually necessary.

Not one to be left out- and frankly, just really not wanting to stay in the vents any longer- Lance kicked out the panel, bayard at the ready. Before even got the chance to take out the sentry he was aiming at, Thace was on him, sinking his blade into the robot and yanking it out in one fluid motion.

Okay. He'd admit it. That was pretty cool.

Plus, he got the next sentry. And the next one after that. He didn't get any others, but that was just because between Keith and Thace, there just weren't any other sentries left to take out. _Man_ , those guys worked quick.

Jumping down out of the vent, Lance still kept his bayard at the ready. Reinforcements could be coming at any time.

"Now what?" He asked.

"Now we sink the ship." Keith replied.

Lance just cocked a brow. "Wow. Spoken like a true pirate. Sure you don't want to steal some booty first?"

Keith just ignored him, turning to Thace. "Are there any prisoners onboard?"

"Negative," Thace informed him, "-I could try to extract any data they might have, if you wish."

"We don't have that kind of time." Keith said. "If Sendak's not here, that means he's probably down on Arus. We need to get back down there."

Yeah, that was what he was afraid of.

Thace just gave him a curt nod, turning to the control panel and tapping away. "I've set the ship's self-destruct mechanism. We have two doboshes to get to our ship."

Lance just stared at him blankly. "Two what now?"

"Minutes." Keith replied.

"Wha- two _minutes_!?" Lance blurted out. "That's barely enough time!"

Thace didn't even blink. "Then I suggest we get moving."

* * *

They made it out, just barely.

He was no stranger to close escapes, but he had to admit- this one definitely took the cake. He hadn't realized just how used he was to having Red bail him out of tough situations until he didn't have that option. He could still hear her- growling in frustration and annoyance at being trapped in her hangar, considering destroying it just to get to him.

Thankfully he managed to convince her not to do that. He had no idea how long it would take to repair the damage to her hangar, and they needed to be ready to leave Arus as soon as they dealt with Sendak.

He grit his teeth. Thinking about the Commander had him on edge. He had no idea where he was, or what his plan is, but he was starting to think this whole attack was a ruse to draw them away from the Castle.

It had worked, too.

At least he felt better. He used to hate the steady _thrum_ of the tainted crystal that Haggar had fused to his heart, but now it was almost comforting to feel. Even through his armor, he could still tell it wasn't in top condition, though- it was hard not to, considering the fact that it was a part of him.

Consequently, it meant that _he_ wasn't in top condition. The battle on the bridge combined with their race back to Thace's ship had left him more than a little winded, when normally, even those two things combined wouldn't be enough to leave him out of breath. He pulled off his helmet, wiping his brow of sweat- it was bad enough that his bangs stuck to his forehead, and left his gauntlet a bit damp.

But at least he wasn't at risk of dying now. Just because he was ready to face it, didn't mean he _wanted_ to face it. Not when there was a chance that there might actually be a way to help him.

_Might_. He wasn't going to get his hopes up.

"Any luck getting in touch with Hunk?" Keith asked, glancing over towards Lance.

He was looking increasingly worried, not that he could blame him. He and Hunk were close. "No," Lance said, "-I'm not getting anything from him. Maybe we're just out of range?"

"Could be." Keith frowned, putting his helmet back on. "I can try Pidge."

Lance briefly looked grateful, something that caught him off guard. Maybe he was just _that_ worried about Hunk. Which... he got. He was worried about Pidge and Matt too- not to mention _Shiro_. If Sendak really was trying to take back Shiro...

But why stop there? Why not kill the paladins and seize the lions while he was at it? Shiro in his brainwashed state still had value to the Empire. The paladins didn't.

He bit his lip. Matt they might be able to get some rebel information from, but Pidge... if Sendak caught her, he'd kill her for sure.

He wouldn't let that happen.

"Pidge? Pidge, can you hear me?" Keith said.

There was a long pause, and then a crackle, so loud it made him wince. "Keith?"

Pidge's voice. He felt a rush of relief upon hearing it. "Good to hear your voice. We dealt with the Galra cruiser. Everything okay down there?"

"Keith," Pidge's voice was urgent, "-Keith, you need to tell Thace to turn your ship around right now."

He froze, his blood running cold. As if to further emphasize that something was wrong, the Castle of Lions finally came into view- with its particle barrier up. There weren't any Galra fighters left to protect it from, so why...?

"Pidge? Pidge, what's wrong?"

There was a long pause. _Too_ long.

"Sendak took over the bridge." Pidge finally said, confirming that his dread was well placed. "He's holding Hunk and Coran hostage."


	31. invasion of the castle of lions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The intercom went dead. Allura remained rooted to the spot, Coran's screams still ringing in her ears. That was something that she never wanted to hear again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, here's the latest update! I don't have too much to say this time around, but hopefully everyone enjoys the chapter! As always, thanks for reading- especially if you've stuck with me for all thirty-one chapters! That's a lot! There's more to come, of course- the story might be nearing a close, but it's not over yet!

He couldn't hide the way his hands shook as he made his way back to the bridge.

How could he? He'd just shot _Shiro_ , like, right on. And sure, maybe he was the enemy right now, but the whole thing still didn't sit well with him. He was just being brainwashed, right? What if he'd really hurt him? He knew the Castle had like, magic healing machines or something, but right now those were offline.

Maybe it was for the best that Allura had sent him back to the bridge. He didn't know how much use he would actually be right now. He sure didn't _feel_ very useful. Maybe... maybe the yellow lion had made a mistake after all. It had felt so _right_ , when he was sitting in its cockpit, but now that he was out of it...

In the back of his mind, the yellow lion purred, as if trying to reassure him. He forced himself to take a deep breath, trying to believe in it.

He hadn't _meant_ to hit Shiro. He'd just... he saw him advancing on Matt, and he hadn't even thought about it. He'd just been trying to fire a warning shot, not strike him head on. How did they actually manage to fight him? Shiro was their friend, right? And Keith... he was Keith's _brother_. Maybe not by blood, but _still_.

Okay. Calm down, Hunk. You did what you had to do. That's all.

Maybe if he kept telling himself that, he'd actually start to believe it.

Stopping in his tracks, he drew in a long breath, slowly letting it out. Little by little, his hands ceased their trembling, and he felt... he felt a little bit calmer. Not by a whole lot, there was still this whole situation to deal with, but a little. Enough to manage.

Right. The princess had told him to return to the bridge, to stay with Coran. _Pleaded_ with him, actually. Which... yeah, he got. From the sound of it, she and Coran were the last Alteans alive. Her whole planet, her entire people were just... _gone_ , just like that. He couldn't blame her for wanting to keep him safe.

He just wasn't sure _he_ was the best choice to do that.

"Back already?" Coran looked up as he entered the bridge. "I thought you went to go help Allura."

"Yeah, well, she told me to come back here." Hunk told him. "So, uh... any developments?"

"Well, they haven't stopped shooting at us." Coran observed- and as if to illustrate his point, the ship shuddered, taking another shot. "But they seem to be avoiding anything vital. It feels more like they're just trying to keep us on our toes, rather than do any actual damage."

"Well, it's working." Hunk observed.

He just hoped Lance and Keith shut down that EMP weapon soon. Once they got the Castle back up and running, they could get the particle barrier up and like... fly out of here or something. He didn't know. The princess would probably want to fight the Galra, which... yeah, he guessed that was what they were _supposed_ to do, but right now all he wanted to do was get off of Arus.

He wasn't exactly wild about that creepy space witch lady knowing where they were. Which she had to, since the Galra were _here_.

Or _any_ part of this situation, really. The only thing keeping him calm at this point were his breathing exercises and even those could only do so much.

"So any luck with the crystal?" Hunk asked.

"Unfortunately, it's not just something you can reboot." Coran lamented. "I'm afraid it's going to be down until they can destroy that weapon."

Hunk grimaced. Having the Castle be so dark just worsened his anxiety. At least it was brighter on the bridge thanks to the massive windows, but the effect was kind of dampened by the swarm of fighters looming just outside. That'd give just about anyone a case of the nerves.

As if there wasn't enough for him to worry about already. Allura, Pidge, and Matt had all gone after brainwashed and crazy Shiro, which was bad enough, but Lance was on some Galra ship, trying to destroy a weapon that they didn't know anything about with someone they had only barely met. And Keith? Keith hadn't looked so good.

He'd looked pretty _awful_ , actually. And he'd seen him when he'd come back from his mission to rescue Te-Osh and Shiro. He'd looked like hell then, but the way he had seen him last, paler than normal and barely able to breathe right... that was definitely way worse.

Heck, right now, he was pretty sure _he_ was the safest out of all the paladins.

He winced. Oh man, he wished he hadn't thought that. That was a jinx if he'd ever heard one. At least he didn't say it out-

"I had heard that the new paladins were merely children," the cold edge to the voice sent a chill down Hunk's spine, even before he turned around to come face to face with what couldn't be anything else but a massive, hulking Galra, "-but it would seem that it is true."

Hunk paled. Oh no. He knew he'd jinxed something.

Even worse, the Galra wasn't alone- with him was another Galra wearing armor that resembled Shiro's, and several robots- _sentries_ , he recalled. All of whom were armed to the teeth- which wasn't even touching on the fact that the massive Galra's arm itself appeared to be a weapon. And here he'd thought that _Shiro's_ cyborg arm had been intimidating- it paled in comparison to the one this Galra was sporting.

Hunk swallowed, gritting his teeth, forcing back the tide of panic. Right now, he was the only paladin here. He had to protect both Coran and the bridge. Summoning his bayard cannon, he tried not to stumble under its weight, angling it at the massive Galra. He _had_ to be the leader.

"Stay back," Hunk warned, trying to sound as brave and commanding as he possibly could under the circumstances, "-I don't want to have to use this."

The Galra merely scoffed and he instantly realized that was the wrong thing to say. "Why summon a weapon you have no intention of using? Is the Altean princess truly so desperate that she would recruit mere children?"

Hunk tried not to flinch. Tried very hard- but the fact was that there was only one of him, and several of them, and he was damn sure they were all light years better at combat than he was. Sure, he had Coran on his side, but the Altean was both unarmed and kind of old- not the greatest combination outside of outlandish martial arts movies.

Also, if the Galra were here, what had happened to everyone else?

And oh man, Lance and Keith- what if... what if this had all been one big trap? What if they knew that they were going to try sneaking on their ship? What if Lance was right, and the timing of the Blade's arrival really _was_ suspect?

Oh man, this was bad. This was _really_ bad.

"Who are you?" Coran demanded. "And how did you get into the Castle?"

"We walked in through the front door. Without your power source, your defenses are nothing." The looming Galra stated. "I am Commander Sendak, of the Galra Empire. And I am here to claim the Voltron lions."

Hunk swallowed, but braced himself, charging a shot. He didn't even get the chance to fire, Sendak's robot arm shooting past him. He heard a cry from behind him, forced to watch as Sendak dragged Coran towards him, the Altean's body looking particularly fragile in his massive robotic hand.

Sendak merely stared at him. "Hand over your bayard, or I cannot guarantee his fate."

"Hunk, no, you mustn't do what he says!" Coran pleaded, even as Sendak's fist clenched tighter around his form. "We can't allow the Galra to get their hands on the lions!"

Hunk barely even heard him, his heart pounding heavily in his ears. Maybe he could shoot past- but no. His hands trembled, recalling the way he had shot Shiro earlier. What if he just ended up shooting Coran instead?

He couldn't- he couldn't go through that again.

Gritting his teeth, Hunk sucked in a breath, before returning his bayard to its default form. The other Galra that was with Sendak strode forward, and with a lingering gaze towards Coran, he reluctantly handed him his bayard.

He couldn't put Coran's life at risk. Allura had sent him back here to protect him. And right now, the only way he could think to do that was to surrender.

He just had to hope the other paladins were safe.

* * *

"So... did it work?"

Exhaling, Allura withdrew her hands from Shiro's head. It remained where it was, cradled in her lap, the last vestiges of the energy that she had poured into him gradually starting to fade away.

"I believe so." Allura replied, looking up towards Matt. "But only time will tell for certain."

In truth, she hadn't done much- merely opened up a pathway for the black lion to access. It had done the rest, clearing away the foul energy that seemed to penetrate every inch of Shiro's mind. It was all she could do to keep it at bay, shuddering at the way it seemed to reach out towards her, as if it wished to take control of her too.

She shuddered to think what effects it could have.

Matt let out a loud _whoop_ , before seemingly recalling that Ulaz was there, at which point he simply looked a bit sheepish. She looked up towards the Blade, a grateful smile on her lips. "Thank you. We might not have been able to stop him if it were not for you."

Ulaz merely shook his head. "You were the one who asked me to protect the black lion. It was your foresight that prevented the worst."

The worst. She bit her lip, trying not to dwell on it. She did not want to think that the black lion would have allowed Shiro to pilot it so long as his mind wasn't his own, but she could not be sure. While it had assisted her in banishing the outside influence from his mind, she still could not deny that it was a possibility.

"Oh man, Keith's going to be _thrilled_." Pidge beamed.

Allura allowed herself to smile at that. "I imagine he will be. Do you think you can contact him for me? I am afraid the process has left me a tad drained."

"Sure, no problem." Pidge told her. "Are you gonna be okay, though?"

"I should be." Allura told her.

She declined to mention that optimally, she would require a bit of rest to truly recover. The power was still out, and judging from the way the ship periodically shook, they were still under attack by the Galra. There was no time for rest, nor was there time for worry.

Besides, if there was anyone who they needed to worry about, it was _Shiro_ , not her. They would need to get him into a healing pod as soon as the Castle regained power.

"Huh, that's weird." Pidge frowned. "I can't seem to get in contact with Keith."

"Maybe they're out of range?" Matt asked.

Allura shook her head. "I do not think so. Obviously there are limits to the coms in your paladin helmets, but they _should_ be able to at least reach the Galra ship."

"You think maybe the EMP is interfering with long range communications?" Matt asked.

"It's possible." Allura admitted. "Ulaz, would it be possible for you to contact Thace? Perhaps you might have more luck."

Ulaz merely inclined his head. "Of course, princess."

"Thank you." Allura said, before turning her attention back down towards Shiro. He was starting to show signs of regaining consciousness, but he hadn't done so quite yet.

She hoped he had _some_ memory of his time as the Champion, at the very least, enough to serve as a guide. Otherwise she imagined that this all would be rather hard to explain. She was unsure as to where she would even start- or even if she should. Perhaps any such explanations would be better left to Matt.

They knew each other, after all.

She bit her lip, her thoughts briefly turning towards Keith. He knew him too. _Brothers_ , Keith had said. Their reunion should have been a happy thing, but even looking at it from the outside, she was aware of how complex it all was.

They had fought each other. And Keith's appearance...

"Strange," Ulaz spoke, breaking her out of her thoughts, "-I am unable to connect to Thace."

Looking up towards the Blade, Allura's lips set themselves in a tight frown. "Do you think it could be some kind of interference?"

Ulaz considered it. "It's possible."

"I can try and figure out a way to work around it." Pidge offered.

Allura nodded. "Do it. I do not like the idea of being unable to contact them."

Pidge gave her a curt nod. Pulling off her helmet, she sat down crosslegged, using her gauntlet to connect with it. She felt herself smile a bit at the sight- she'd picked up on the functions of the paladin armor rather quick. It hardly came as a surprise to her- she had proven adept with both Galra and Altean tech alike.

Truly, a perfect fit for the green paladin. She would have made Trigel proud.

Shiro groaned, drawing her attention back towards him. Realizing that he seemed to be regaining consciousness, she carefully removed his head from her lap. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed how Ulaz put some distance between himself and them- and she couldn't find it in herself to argue. None of them knew what to expect when Shiro regained consciousness, so perhaps it was for the best that one of the first faces he saw didn't belong to a Galra.

The thought felt... _unpleasant_ , somehow.

For a few ticks, his eyes seemed to merely flicker, before they slowly opened. Though hazy with the lingering traces of unconsciousness, they did not seem anywhere near as cold as before.

"Shiro?" Matt cautiously asked.

Shiro groaned again, turning his in the direction of Matt's voice. "Matt?"

Matt's expression brightened. "You recognize me?"

"Recognize you...?" Shiro asked. "What kind of question is-?"

He stopped himself short, his eyes going wide. He sat up in a jolt, only to wince in pain, his hand darting to his side. His _right_ hand, which caused him to freeze at the sight of it. Holding it up, he stared at it in unmasked horror, for which she could hardly blame him. It barely resembled a human hand, appearing far more Galra in make.

It was a reminder of who he had been. Haggar's Champion.

She said nothing, instead letting Matt take the lead. Pidge had halted her work, watching anxiously as her brother knelt down by Shiro's side, placing a careful hand on his shoulder- his _organic_ shoulder, as his prosthetic seemed to extend all the way up to his shoulder joint. He seemed to flinch at the contact, but instead of pulling away from it, he forced himself to look at Matt.

"Hey," Matt said, "-it'll be okay."

"I-" Shiro stammered, stumbling over his own words. "I remember fighting you. And- and Katie. Why would I-?"

The color drained from Shiro's face, realization sinking in. "I was- I was working for them, wasn't I?"

"That wasn't you, Shiro." Matt told him. "None of that was you."

Shiro looked up at him, eyes searching for something. She didn't know what, only that she had seen Keith make a similar expression in the past. Strange- he had told her himself that they were not related by blood, and yet already, she could begin to see the similarities.

Both had been used harshly by the Galra Empire. Both had been altered, transformed into something- or some _one_ , in Shiro's case- that they were never meant to be.

Both had Haggar to blame. An Altean.

It was _her_ people who had done this. Not the Galra.

"I-" Shiro began, but Matt shook his head, cutting him off.

"I know this probably has to be hard to take." Matt told him, for a moment, sounding like _he_ was the older one, not the younger. "But you need to calm down."

Shiro swallowed, slowly nodding his head. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to take deep breaths, slowly letting them out, repeating the process several times. It took him a few ticks, but he finally seemed to calm down somewhat. When he opened his eyes next, they looked a fair bit more collected than they had previously.

"I guess I should thank you." Shiro said. "All of you."

"Hey, we couldn't just leave you like that." Matt told him. "So... how much do you remember?"

Shiro shook his head, staring down at his hands- both human and machine. "Bits and pieces, mostly. It's starting to trickle back, but it's like watching someone else's memories. It might be awhile until I'm up to speed."

Matt and Pidge exchanged a look. She could almost read their silent communication- Pidge was questioning if he remembered fighting Keith or not, and Matt was silently conveying that he might not have put two and two together just yet, seeing as he hadn't said anything. Likely, he was right- if he had been that torn up about fighting Matt and Pidge, she could only imagine how devastated he would be to learn that he had fought his own brother.

Unless he simply didn't recognize him. The thought twisted at her gut.

She couldn't say what Keith had looked like as a human. She didn't know if the changes he had endured had made him unrecognizable or not. She hoped not. After everything he had been through, he at the very least deserved to be reunited with his family.

Her gaze darted towards Ulaz as she thought that. Keith had said something about his knife having been a gift from his mother, something she had left behind for him. More than likely, his mother had been a Blade.

"How much do you remember about what's going on right now?" Pidge asked.

Shiro frowned, considering it. "There was a power outage of some kind. I remember fighting you and Matt. I _definitely_ don't remember how you got into space."

Pidge just snorted. "Pretty sure that's because you never knew."

"Ah," Shiro arched his brows, "-that's fair, I guess."

"Well, that's a start." Matt said, hauling himself to his feet. "Think you can stand?"

"I can probably manage." Shiro said after a tick.

Sure enough, he managed to haul himself to his feet. He was unsteady for a few ticks, likely unused to the extra weight of his right arm, but thankfully what his scattered memories lacked, his body more than made up for. Clenching and unclenching his fist, he stared down at the arm, a slight shudder running up the length of his spine, nearly undetectable.

He exhaled, dropping his arm by his side. Finally looking towards her, he managed a somewhat weak smile. "You're Princess Allura, right? I should probably thank you."

He extended his hand towards her- his _left_ hand, she noticed. She smiled, recognizing the gesture as a _handshake_ and responded accordingly, grasping his hand firmly with her own. "No thanks are necessary. All I did was assist. The black lion took care of the rest."

Shiro blinked. "The black lion? I thought the black lion had been destroyed."

"So you know about Voltron." Allura observed.

"I," Shiro began, his brow furrowing in thought, like he was trying to piece it all together, "-I guess I do. It's all pretty vague, though. I remember Zarkon was looking for it."

"Just for the record," Pidge chimed in, "- _I'm_ one of the paladins."

"She sure is!" Matt beamed, ruffling his sister's hair, entirely ignoring her squawk of protest. "And as her brother, I couldn't be more proud."

Shiro managed a smile, stronger this time. Still, it didn't quite seem to reach his eyes. "You always did say she was something special."

"I'm not about to argue with that." Pidge said. "But it's not just me. You're a paladin too, Shiro."

Shiro merely appeared dumbfounded. "Me?"

Allura nodded. "Yes. The black lion chose you. It was how I managed to get rid of Haggar's influence over you."

Tilting his head, Shiro turned on his heel, gazing towards the black lion's hangar. It was sealed, of course. "Huh. I guess I should probably thank this _black lion_ too, then."

Allura merely smiled. "I am quite certain it already knows."

Their bond likely wouldn't be finalized until Shiro sat behind the lion's controls for himself, but unfortunately, there was no way to do that at the moment. She suspected it had gone back into slumber, and would not truly wake until the other four lions were gathered. And with Lance and Keith gone, and the Castle without power, that would not be happening for awhile.

And yet, she couldn't help but feel her heart sing in joy. Not only did they have all five lions, but they now had all five paladins as well. With this, they could finally form Voltron and turn the tide of this war.

Allura blinked. She had somehow nearly forgotten that they still had the Galra to deal with. Turning on her heel, Allura looked down towards Pidge. "Have you been able to get into contact with," she stopped herself just short of saying _Keith_ , "-Lance?"

Pidge blinked. "Oh! Right. Yeah, just give me a second. There does seem to be some kind of interference, so if I can just get past that, I can-"

Before she could even finish that sentence, the Castle's lights flickered back on. It was enough to cause her to blink- her eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness. That said, she seemed to deal with the return of the Castle's power a tad better than Shiro, who winced, shielding his eyes with his left hand.

She recalled the unfailing way he had managed to find them even in the darkness. Haggar had likely made alterations to his eyes, she concluded. Galra ships could be quite dark, so it made sense that she would want to increase his night vision, possibly at the cost of his daytime vision.

Still, after a tick, any issue that Shiro seemed to have with Castle's lights cleared. He seemed to notice the peculiarity of it as well, a tight frown set on his lips before he seemingly decided not to dwell on it- or at least, not until later.

"Huh," Pidge blinked, "-guess Thace did it."

Shiro turned towards her, his brow creasing. "Thace? That's a Galra name, isn't it?"

Biting her lip, Pidge nodded. She could understand her hesitance- speaking of Thace skirted very close to speaking of _Keith_ , whom Shiro had as of yet, not seemed to remember. "Yeah. He's a member of the Blade of Marmora. Turns out Zarkon doesn't exactly have an iron grip on his own kind."

"Huh," Shiro frowned, "-I guess that explains why I remember being so angry at Ulaz."

"Is that all you remember?" Ulaz questioned.

Shiro pivoted on his heel, for a split second almost seeming to prepare an attack- before he slowly lowered his right arm, blinking at the sight of Ulaz. He squinted, peering at him, as if he somehow expected his face to change if he just looked hard enough. "Ulaz?"

Ulaz didn't even so much as flinch. But she supposed Blades were trained for composure. It was a useful skill to have as a spy. "So you remember me."

"I-" Shiro scanned his face, looking as if he were trying to sort his thoughts, "-I remember you did something to my arm. You-"

He stopped himself short, his body growing stiff. Allura swallowed. Had he...?

She opened her mouth to say something, only to snap it shut. A booming voice came over the Castle's intercom system, one that very much did not belong to either Coran nor Hunk. In fact, she swore she recognized it.

All at once, her blood ran cold. Because she _did_.

_"If you do not comply, I will be forced to destroy your ship."_

_Sendak_.

"Princess Allura," Sendak spoke, his tone just as commanding as she remembered it, "-the yellow paladin and your fellow Altean are currently in my custody. If you wish to see their lives are spared, I advise you and the paladins to turn yourselves in to me. If not..."

He trailed off, and all she could hear were screams. A chill ran up her spine as she recognized one of the voice's as Coran's. It took all of her willpower not to clamp her hands over her ears so as to drown the sound out. She had left him on the bridge to protect him, but now it turned out that she had only put him in harm's way.

"...then there are no guarantees." Sendak finished. "You have twenty doboshes to make up your mind."

The intercom went dead. Allura remained rooted to the spot, Coran's screams still ringing in her ears. That was something that she never wanted to hear again.

It was only Matt's voice that snapped her out of it. "Allura...?"

Shaking her head, Allura drew in a sharp breath. "I had a feeling that there was some other plan at work, but..."

To take hostages, and on her own ship no less? How could she have been so careless?

"That was Sendak," Shiro spoke, shaking off whatever momentary daze he had been in, "-I remember him. Even among Zarkon's top commanders, he's considered especially ruthless."

"We know." Pidge said. "We've met."

Shiro winced. "I... _might_ have been the one to send him after you. That's starting to come back to me too."

Matt shook his head. "It wasn't you. It was the Champion."

"It still doesn't change the fact that I-"

"It does not matter who sent him, now or in the past." Allura interjected. "What matters is how we deal with him _now_. We cannot let him harm Coran and Hunk."

 _Further_ , she mentally added.

"Allura's right." Pidge said. "But we can't just turn ourselves over either."

"Do we try to spring an attack?" Matt suggested.

"Unwise." Ulaz noted. "The bridge of this ship appears to have been designed to thwart any such attempts."

Allura nodded. "I am afraid Ulaz is correct."

"Plus, even if we try to storm the bridge, Sendak will know we're coming." Pidge pointed out. "We need to think up some kind of plan."

"What about this... _Thace_?" Shiro asked, still seeming a little distracted. "Could he help?"

Allura frowned, bringing up a screen with the wave of her hand. If she could just check on the status of the Castle, maybe she could use some of the internal defenses against Sendak. "Possibly. He went with two of the paladins to destroy the EMP weapon that caused the Castle to lose power. We may be able to-"

Her screen flickered and faded out, causing her to pause mid-sentence. She tried to bring it back up again, but to no avail. " _Quiznak_. Sendak must have forced Coran to lock me out of the system."

"Wait," Matt said, "-I think I might have an idea. Shiro, did you say you know Sendak?"

"It's all still coming together, but-"

"Okay. Okay, that's good." Matt cut him off. "That means Sendak knows _you_."

Shiro blinked, before the meaning of his words dawned on him. "You want to use me to get Sendak to drop his guard."

Matt nodded. "Sendak doesn't know we've freed you from Haggar's brainwashing."

"It's a start. But it is still just one person." Allura said. "If Sendak has captured Hunk, then we have to assume he's taken his bayard from him."

"Plus, we can't assume he's alone." Pidge pointed out. "Also we kind of beat up Shiro up a bit. Or well... a lot, actually. Which... now that I think about it, we should _probably_ apologize for."

Shiro just gave her a weak smile. "Can't exactly blame you under the circumstances. But you're right, I'm not exactly in peak condition right now. And from what I remember of Sendak, he's a vicious fighter. I'm not sure if I can handle him alone."

"Then you will not have to." Allura told him. "I will go with you."

Granted, her condition was not exactly at its best either. She was still drained from the process of saving Shiro. But she was also the only one among them with the physical strength to stand up to a Galra unarmed. Besides, she had endured worse.

Pidge just stared up at her. "Uh, Allura? No offense, but didn't we all just agree that we can't turn ourselves in?"

"I never said I would be turning myself in." Allura said. "Simply that I would be accompanying Shiro."

Shiro looked at her in consideration. "You want me to pretend I've taken you prisoner."

She could sense the disapproval in his tone, and merely leveled her gaze with his. "Do you have any better ideas?"

"No, but if we just take some time to think this through-"

"We do not have that kind of time." Allura said, her voice firm. "If we do not respond in some way within twenty doboshes, then we can assume Sendak will kill the hostages."

"I hate to say it Shiro, but I think Allura is right." Matt said.

"I'm still not sure if I like this." Shiro said. "You _just_ freed me from Haggar's influence. How can we be sure there aren't any other nasty surprises floating around in my head?"

"That is just a risk we will have to take." Allura said.

"Look, the longer we discuss this, the faster those twenty doboshes go by." Pidge pointed out. "Whatever we decide to do, we have to decide fast."

Shiro closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. She could understand his reluctance- it was only a few doboshes ago that he was under Haggar's control, swearing allegiance to the Galra Empire. The black lion may have given him back control of his own mind, but she could not say for certain that there was no influence from Haggar left.

But she also knew that she could not forgive herself if anything happened to Coran- or Hunk, for that matter. He may be the yellow paladin, but the only reason he was out here in the first place was because of her. Altea may be no more, but she had a duty as its princess and as the owner of this Castle to protect them both. She would not fail them.

She _refused_ to fail them.

"Alright," Shiro finally said, "-you're right."

Allura nodded, glancing down towards Pidge. "Pidge, you stay here. Keep trying to contact the others."

Pidge gave her a curt nod. "Got it."

"Matt, you try and see if you can access any of the Castle's systems." Allura said. "You may be able to get in while Shiro and I distract Sendak."

"You can count on me." He told her.

"I know I can." Allura smiled, before turning towards Ulaz. "Do you think I could ask you for another favor?"

"We are allies now." Ulaz simply stated. "I would hope that you would feel that you could ask anything of me."

"Please protect them." Allura said. "Should anything goes wrong, we may at least be able to salvage at least three of the lions. The last thing we need is for Zarkon to get his hands on all of them."

Ulaz nodded. "I understand."

Drawing in a long breath, she squared her shoulders. Turning towards Shiro, she lifted her chin, holding her head up high. "Let's go."

* * *

The tension in the air was thick. He knew it was because of him.

Nervously glancing down towards the Altean princess, Shiro attempted to focus his thoughts. Maybe it was just because he had broken free from a year's worth of brainwashing, but they were scrambled, coming and going in inconsistent bursts just the same as his memories. His time as the Champion- he was confident that it was all there, but it was proving difficult to access the same way he would any of his other memories.

Part of him considered it a mercy.

The rest of him... not so much. He hadn't exactly had a lot of time to dwell on it all. It was a lot to take in.

The last thing he clearly remembered was being taken from the gladiator pits to Haggar's lair. After that... things came in bits and pieces.

What he remembered was already too much.

He remembered fighting in the name of the Galra Empire. Swearing his allegiance to Zarkon, and taking _pride_ in it. He had been Haggar's Champion, and she had made use of him without hesitation. Although their faces blurred together, he knew instinctively that he had also killed in the name of the Galra Empire- and had done so without hesitation. Even if he hadn't been in control of his own actions, he didn't think he deserved forgiveness for that.

He remembered the sensation of _being_ the Champion. He may have been Haggar's puppet, but he couldn't have functioned without some degree of free will. But even that was an illusion, his actions strictly controlled by Haggar. It was like he had been a robot, and she had programmed him.

The Champion did not hesitate, nor did he lose. Victory or death.

He clearly remembered fighting against Matt and Katie- who was apparently going by _Pidge_ now. He still didn't know how she had ended up this far out in space, but at the same time, somehow it didn't really surprise him.

But she wasn't the only one.

_"Shiro,_ _**please** _ _. It's Keith."_

He shut his eyes, an action he quickly regretted. Doing so only sharpened the memories, bringing them into focus. It wasn't until he had started thinking about Ulaz that they had begun to come back to him, but now they just wouldn't _stop_.

Keith was here. Keith was here, and he had fought him. _Hurt_ him. Fighting Matt and Pidge was bad enough, but _Keith_?

Keith was his brother. His _family_. Maybe not by blood, but ever since he'd seen the way his foster father at the time treated him, he had vowed to protect him. He'd fought to get Keith out of that situation, and had continued to fight for him years later, when he suddenly disappeared without a trace, leaving everyone else to say that he was dead.

He'd refused to believe it. Refused to give up. Not until they showed him proof.

In hindsight, it had probably made him look a little crazy. But he couldn't even take smug satisfaction in the fact that he had been right- not when their reunion had involved him trying to kill the same person he had swore to protect.

He didn't understand why Keith looked so Galra, and his memories were still too fragmented to be of much help. It didn't matter.

Because what he _did_ remember were his cries of pain, the way he had pleaded with him. Keith _never_ pleaded. He was stubborn to a fault, that kid, and he knew instinctively that whatever he had endured at the hands of the Galra, that hadn't changed. Maybe he didn't know what it was that had caused his sudden image change, but he _did_ seem to remember the fact that Keith was apparently a _space pirate_ \- and a notorious one to boot.

Given that their first interaction had involved him _stealing his car_ , he was willing to believe it.

"Shiro?" Allura spoke up. "Is everything alright?"

"Just fine." Shiro lied. Now wasn't the time for internal turmoil. "Are you sure those cuffs aren't too tight?"

He had found a pair after digging around in his armor. Allura had insisted that he use them, in order to complete the illusion that he had taken her prisoner. He'd been against it, but as he quickly discovered, winning an argument against the Altean princess wasn't an easy feat. She was just as stubborn as Keith- if not more so.

The thought should have filled him with a melancholy fondness, but all it brought him was a twinge of pain. All he could think about was the sound, the _feeling_ , of Keith's wrist snapping underneath his foot, of him crying out in pain. His memories might be scattered and disorientated in other places, but that was one thing he remembered with almost crystal clarity.

"They are a tad tight." Allura admitted. "But any less, and we risk letting Sendak know something is wrong. Our only advantage right now is the fact that he does not yet know that you have been freed from Haggar's control."

She was right, and he knew it.

That still didn't mean he _liked_ it. He wasn't sure if he could step back into the role of Champion now that he was free. If he could be that callous, that _cruel_.

No. It wasn't that he was worried if he _could_ be. He knew he could. He was just worried about how easily it might come back to him. What if Haggar had changed more than just his body?

Allura looked up at him. For a second, it felt as if she was looking right through him. It made him shudder, forcing him to remember that she had been inside his mind.

 _The Champion's_ mind. He wondered what she had seen there.

"You know," Allura began, "-you have been spoken of very highly."

Shiro blinked. He didn't neglect to notice the fact that she was avoiding saying by who, but somehow, he already knew. "Yeah?"

Allura nodded. "They were willing to risk life and limb just to save you. As far as I am concerned, that is the highest form of praise one can receive."

If he wasn't sure she was talking about Keith before, he was now. Still, the last time he had seen Keith was when he was fourteen, and that was a long time ago now. Things could have changed. _He_ could have changed. Why would he still be willing to go so far for him?

"How did," Shiro began, struggling for a moment to find his voice, "-how did they know I wasn't doing this by choice? I could have been."

"Sometimes you simply know people."

She made it sound so simple. And maybe it was.

Maybe he had just spent so long lost in the head of a monster, that it was hard for him to see the good in himself anymore. But there must have been _something_ there, even when he had been the Champion. Otherwise he didn't think the black lion would have ever called out to him.

He could still feel its presence in his mind, filling up the gaps where Haggar's influence had once been. He didn't know how he knew it was the black lion, he just did.

"Now," Allura said, holding out her cuffed wrists, "-if we are going to fool Sendak, we're going to have to be a tad more convincing than this."

For a long moment, all Shiro did was stare at her. His ribs still ached where they had been cracked, and his left wrist still stung, but for the moment, he ignored the pain. He had done worse to someone who even after all this time, trusted him implicitly.

He didn't know the full story- not of what had happened to Keith, nor how he had met up with any of these people. He suspected there were pieces of it within his own memories that he just didn't recall yet, but there was probably an even larger part of the story that was unknown even to the Champion. All he knew was that somehow, these people were Keith's allies- maybe even his _friends_.

And that was enough for him.

Keith had thrown himself in harm's way to save him. It was only fitting that he return the favor.

"Well," Shiro said, finding his resolve, "-don't blame me if things get a little rough."

"I think I can more than handle that." Allura simply said.

Somehow, he didn't doubt that.


	32. counterattack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn't waste a single second gunning for Sendak. If his right arm was made to be a weapon, then at least he could use it to do something _good_ for a change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, here's the next chapter! Please enjoy! I think this story should finish up around the thirty-fifth chapter, if not before, but we'll see how everything plays out! There's not a whole lot left to cover, so it should be pretty soon.

"Sendak took over the bridge. He's holding Hunk and Coran hostage."

Her words were followed by a short burst of static, and for a second, she feared that she had lost the connection again. As relieved as she was to hear Keith's voice, she couldn't find any real enjoyment in it. With Sendak in control of the bridge, there was a high chance that if they attempted to come back now, he'd just turn the Castle defenses on them.

"Copy that," Keith finally spoke, "-I'll pass that on to Thace. Are you okay?"

"Matt and I are fine." Pidge said. It was true- she was a little sore maybe, but otherwise fine. Matt was a little more battered, but the worst of it looked to be bruises that would all heal soon enough. "We're still free."

She swore she could hear Keith's frown. "What about Allura?"

A faint smile crept across her face at the question. It wasn't that she was happy about the fact that Allura was potentially putting herself in danger, it was the person she was doing it with that made her smile. At least that was one piece of good news she could give him. "She's with Shiro."

There was another pause, but this time she didn't think it was due to the connection cutting out. "Is he...?"

"It's a long story," Pidge admitted, "-but she managed to free him from Haggar's control."

If she thought he had sounded relieved to hear her before, that was nothing compared to the audible relief in his voice now. "So he's... Pidge, that's great!"

"Yeah, it is pretty great." Pidge admitted, unable to help but sound a little smug even though she barely had anything to do with it. "Anyways, she and Shiro have a plan to take care of Sendak. With any luck, we should be able to recapture the bridge."

There was another long pause- and she didn't need to ask to know that Keith was at war with himself. He probably wanted to ask questions about Shiro, about what he remembered- specifically if he remembered _him_ \- but at the same time, he realized there were more pressing concerns right now.

She didn't have an answer to that anyways. Shiro had definitely reacted to seeing Ulaz, but she couldn't say if that was because he had remembered Keith or not.

"Okay," Keith finally said, "-okay, that's good. Are you sure there's nothing we can do to help?"

"Actually," Pidge considered it, "-does that ship you're on have any weapons?"

"It is a transport craft." Ulaz chimed in.

Pidge looked up at him. "So... no weapons, then?"

"I am afraid not." Ulaz said, shaking his head. "But Thace is a skilled pilot. If you wished to ask him to serve as an additional distraction, he would be more than up to the task."

Pidge frowned, considering it. She'd feel better if the ship had weapons, but...

"Did you get any of that, Keith?" Pidge asked.

"I got it." Keith told her. "So did Thace. We'll see what we can do. I'm guessing with the particle barrier up, we won't be able to get to our lions."

Pidge swore underneath her breath. "The particle barrier is up?"

She glanced up towards Matt, who just shook his head. He'd been trying to get into the system since Allura left, but it seemed like Sendak had forced Coran to lock down access to it from anywhere that wasn't the bridge. He wasn't having any luck getting past it.

"You didn't know?" Keith asked. "Well, it is."

"Okay, that's a problem." Pidge said. "We can't access the system from where we are. We think Sendak has restricted all access, or at least limited it to the bridge."

Over the coms, she could make out the sound of a faint growl. "Should have shot the bridge of his ship while I had the chance."

Pidge could only grunt in agreement. Other than their bounties going up, they weren't typically used to their actions having consequences. It sort of came part and parcel with the whole space pirate lifestyle. But they were paladins now- so maybe they needed to stop thinking so much like pirates.

Or maybe... maybe thinking like a pirate was exactly what she needed to be doing right now.

"Matt," Pidge said, looking up at him, "-I _think_ I might have a way to hook you back into the Castle's systems."

Matt took one look at her and frowned. "Am I going to like it?"

"No," Pidge said frankly, "-no you're not."

* * *

The vents.

 _Of course_ it was the vents. He should have known from that look in Pidge's eye. Grumbling, Matt crawled forward, starting to wish he had left his cape behind in Pidge's care. Reaching behind him, he knotted the end, hopefully reducing the amount of drag it had.

Figures Pidge would have a map of the Castle's vents, though, the little pirate that she was. He still didn't see why _she_ wasn't the one doing this.

Okay, so he knew it was because in the absolute worst case scenario, they needed her to remain free so if nothing else, she could get to the green lion and take it and Ulaz out of here. Keith had already agreed to flee with Thace if things got really bad- and since they all knew that the red lion would respond to him if he called for it, that would be at least two lions safe from Zarkon.

After all, it wasn't like they could just keep the Castle's particle barrier up forever. Could they?

Slapping his cheeks, Matt forced himself to focus. Getting into the system and taking down the particle barrier was his job. And he had to admit- even if it involved crawling around in the Castle's vents, Pidge's loophole was nothing short of genius. Obvious genius when you stopped to think about it, but pretty much no one would think of using the vents above the bridge to bypass Sendak's lockdown.

It was too bad they just couldn't access the bridge directly from the vents. But Ulaz was right- it really had been designed so that it was difficult to assault. He just hoped that the vents above the bridge still qualified as being _on_ the bridge. The only thing worse than crawling around in vents was crawling around in vents for _nothing_.

* * *

"Commander Sendak."

He remembered Sendak, from his days before he became Haggar's Champion. For a time he had been kept on his ship- it was there he rose to 'fame' as a gladiator, if you could call it that. It was also there that he had caught Haggar's attention.

Those were his last clear memories of the Galra Commander, but what scattered recollections he had of him during his time serving as the Champion were enough. No one embodied the Galra creed of victory or death better than Sendak. Even Commander Ranveig, in all his ruthlessness, couldn't compare.

He was Zarkon's right hand for a reason.

And now that right hand was holding two people hostage. He remembered the yellow paladin from the mining colony where the yellow lion had been hidden. Not very well- but well enough that he definitely got the feeling that he had seen him somewhere before.

Turned out, he was right.

He recognized him- just barely, but he did. He'd never looked at him with such unmasked horror before, so it had taken a moment to place him. Wasn't he a cadet at the Garrison? How'd he get so far out into space? Was the other paladin a cadet as well?

Right now he couldn't dwell on that. For now, he had a part to play. He could ask all the questions he wanted once they got through this.

Sendak turned to look at him. "Haggar's Champion. I see you're still alive."

"They were keeping me in cryofreeze." Shiro told him. "I suppose I have you to thank for the power failure that allowed me to escape."

"Haggar has a vested interest in seeing you returned to duty as quickly as possible." Sendak told him, and he had to fight the urge to shiver. He _never_ wanted to go back to that.

"Consider me returned, then." Shiro lied. "I brought you a gift."

Mentally apologizing, he tightened his grip on Allura's wrist. It was the signal that they had agreed upon ahead of time, so that at least she would have some warning before he threw her in front of Sendak. It was subtle, but she was able to brace herself a bit, lowering the potential risk of damage. Frankly, he thought he was overselling it, but the theatrical display _did_ seem to be in line with what he was starting to piece together from his time as the Champion.

Something about knowing that his evil alter-ego liked to showboat just managed to make an awful situation even worse.

"Princess!" The Altean man- presumably Coran- thrashed against his bonds at the sight, his eyes wide with horror. Horror which quickly turned to fury, as he directed an angry glare towards him. "How could you!?"

Regret already sat in the pit of his stomach like a stone, but Coran's words just made it worse. He had the feeling that he had been in this exact same situation before, only during those times, he had truly believed in the act he was putting on now. Whether he wanted them or not, his memories from his time as Haggar's Champion kept trickling back, and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

He guessed this was his punishment. But it was fine. He deserved this.

"Princess Allura," Sendak sneered, snapping him back to the here and now, "-I see you have decided to accept my generous offer."

Allura played her part well, glaring at Sendak with absolute fury in her eyes. Then again, she might not be acting at all. "Sendak. It would seem you survived our earlier encounter."

"It will take more than the destruction of my ship to stop me." Sendak said. "I am here to return the favor."

"You will never get away with this!" Allura yelled. "Zarkon will _never_ claim Voltron for his own."

"We will see about that." Sendak told her, taking a step forward. "You seem to have found new paladins for the lions, but they can all easily be dealt with."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the yellow paladin shiver. Shiro had to fight to keep himself from reacting, keeping his expression as neutral as possible. All he wanted to do was to reassure him, but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything for him right now- or for Coran, who had to be forcibly restrained by one of the sentries.

Yeah. He'd definitely been in this position before.

But he needed to wait. Their positions weren't yet optimal. Before they could even deal with Sendak, they would need to deal with the two sentries that had been set to guard Coran and yellow paladin- _Hunk_ , he thought the princess had called him.

Patience yields focus.

Beyond them, there were four other sentries, and Sendak's lieutenant- _Haxus_ , he recalled. Haxus was at the forefront of the bridge- presumably Coran had been forced to grant him access. If he didn't know any better, he was starting to make preparations for takeoff. That they would _definitely_ have to do something about.

"There are still two others on the ship." Shiro stated, purposefully lying. Sendak had reason to know about Katie and Matt- but he didn't know about Ulaz. "The green paladin and her brother. They split up in an effort to lose me. I prioritized the Altean princess."

If Sendak noticed the deception, he didn't react to it. "There are still eight doboshes left. Perhaps they will decide to turn themselves in before then."

" _Never_." Allura spat.

"Sir," Haxus spoke, "-we are detecting a single craft entering our range."

Sendak turned to look, and for that matter, so did he. Even if he tried digging into the Champion's memories, something he was loathe to do, he'd never seen a ship like that before. Ulaz had mentioned something about belonging to a group, so maybe this was the ship that Thace had used to get to Sendak's cruiser.

 _Keith_ was on that ship.

By his side, his right hand clenched into a fist. He had to force himself not to look at it- at the metal arm that Haggar had forced upon him. The one he remembered having from the arena had been bad enough, but this one... this one was so much worse.

 _That_ one he could hide. This one served as a permanent reminder of who he had become, of what he had done. He could still recall the way the Champion had been elated to receive it- a great power that he could use to further the cause of the Galra Empire. He knew exactly what it was capable of, and it terrified him.

It was undeniably a weapon. The fact that it was part of him in turn made _him_ a weapon.

"So the traitor did show up here." Sendak said, narrowing his eyes. "Bring it down. Haggar's experiment is likely onboard, but it should survive."

Raising a hand over his heart in salute, Haxus inclined his head. "Vrepit sa."

He felt a shiver run down the length of his spine. _Haggar's experiment_. He didn't even need to ask to know he meant Keith. Haggar's experiments on him had been loathsome enough, but she had experimented on Keith as well? That he couldn't abide.

Was _this_ why he had disappeared, all those years ago? Had he been taken by the Galra? All this time- all this time, had Keith been suffering at Haggar's hand? Since he was fourteen- just a _child_ , still shy of his first real growth spurt.

No wonder he'd never been able to find him. Why no one had. None of them thought to search space.

How? Why? These questions mattered, definitely, just not right now.

Because right now, they had the distraction that they were looking for. Silently exchanging a glance with Allura, the princess nodded. She stumbled to her feet, while he drew further into the room, under the impression that he was going to once again restrain her. Sendak barely even paid attention to him, his gaze still fixed on the ship that weaved through laser blasts like it was nothing.

Then suddenly, the firing stopped.

"Sir," Haxus frowned, "-I seem to have been locked out of the system."

That was as good a cue as any. Allura released her cuffs, using the hidden key he had given her. Before anyone could react, she threw her full body weight against the sentry that was keeping Coran hostage. Seeming to sense something was going on, if not exactly _what_ , Hunk did the same, throwing his own bulk at the sentry tasked with guarding him.

He didn't waste a single second gunning for Sendak. If his right arm was made to be a weapon, then at least he could use it to do something _good_ for a change.

Although they definitely had the element of surprise, Sendak was quick for someone of his size. He caught his fist using his own robotic arm, for a brief second, staring at it in what could only be described as confusion, before understanding dawned across his features. Shiro wrenched his fist free, jumping back to put some distance between the two of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Allura wrested control of one of the sentries' blasters.

"I see the high priestess' programming has worn off." Sendak stated, his tone cool and impassive. "I will have to inform her that you need to be reprogrammed."

Shiro narrowed his eyes, clenching his right fist. "I will _never_ allow that witch inside my head ever again."

He was Takashi Shirogane, ranking lieutenant at the Galaxy Garrison, paladin of the black lion. Keith's brother. He would never be the Champion again. _Never_.

"So you say." Sendak stated, even as the sound of blaster fire met their ears. But Allura and the others had their hands full with the sentries and Haxus- he couldn't count on them coming to help him, not now.

But he hadn't had his body modified against his will for nothing. If he couldn't even defeat Sendak here, what use was it all?

He barely even knew some of these people, but they had still put faith in Keith's words, and had helped rescue him. They had believed him when he said he wasn't doing this out of his own free will- and sure, he knew Matt and Katie would probably never believe that, but nobody else on this ship even really knew him- it would have been a lot easier to believe that he was doing all this willingly, rather than that he had been brainwashed.

That just showed how much they trusted Keith. And he wouldn't let that trust down.

Putting distance between him and Sendak quickly turned against his favor. He bit back a swear as Sendak's arm shot forward, forcing him back off of the bridge. Grunting, he staggered to his feet, his already aching ribs protesting some more. That arm hit _hard_.

"Haxus," Sendak instructed, "-deal with the rest of the rabble. The Champion is mine."

* * *

"Princess! Oh thank the ancients, you're alright!"

Allura gave Coran a faint smile. They had ducked behind the red paladin's chair for cover, but it wouldn't last long. "A little sore, but otherwise alright. Can you move?"

"Oh, I think I can manage." Coran said, rubbing his wrists. "Just a little sore myself, that's all."

"Good, because we cannot afford to relax yet." Allura stated, passing Coran the release key she had used for her own cuffs. "Use this to free Hunk. I'll deal with the sentries."

Before anyone could protest, she wrenched a blaster free from one of the sentries that had been guarding them. After a tick of determining just how to hold it, she shot the pair of them right through the head, while they were still trying to recover from being tackled. That left only the other pair- and Sendak's lieutenant.

Sendak himself seemed occupied with Shiro, and though she wished she could lend him a hand, right now the remaining two sentries had her pinned down by blaster fire. As the crown princess of Altea, she had been trained in many forms of combat, however she had to admit, blasters were far from her speciality.

"Hunk!" She yelled. "Grab the other blaster, lend me a hand!"

The yellow paladin, now rubbing his own newly freed wrists, flinched a little at her voice. She briefly recalled the horror that had been in his eyes after he'd shot Shiro. But after a tick, he seemed to steal himself, grabbing the other fallen blaster, helping her to return fire. Haxus appeared to be preoccupied at the moment, likely trying to reestablish his connection to the Castle's systems- which she suspected she had one or both of the Holt siblings to thank for.

"So is Shiro not evil anymore?" Hunk asked.

"It is a bit of a long story." Allura told him. "But yes."

Hunk let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, that's good. I was worried there for a second."

Allura briefly spared him a smile, touched by his concern. He and Coran had been in far more dire circumstances than she had been, so for him to stop and worry about her amidst all that... it was quite telling of his character. And while it appeared that he had qualms about having shot Shiro, however good his timing had been, he appeared to have no such reservations in regards to the sentries.

But something still needed to be done about Haxus.

"Coran," Allura said, "-I will leave this to you."

Passing him her blaster, he stared down at it, baffled. "But what about you, princess?"

"I will deal with Haxus." Allura stated, her tone allowing for no argument.

With any luck, the four of them would be enough to take back the bridge from the Galra. And if not... with the particle barrier now lowered, hopefully they should be able to get some reinforcements. That said, she could not attest to Keith's condition- hopefully the fact that the power had been restored to the Castle was a sign that they had successfully managed to complete their mission, and that he- or his crystal, to be more exact- had recovered.

"We'll cover you, princess." Hunk told her.

Nodding, Allura wasted no time in rushing forward. But while Shiro's initial attack against Sendak had caught him off guard, she had no such luck with Haxus- he easily saw her strike coming and blocked it, though she managed to pull away before he could use it as a means to draw her in.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Hunk shot one of the two remaining sentries. One less thing to worry about.

"Princess Allura," Haxus said, drawing an energy sword from his belt, "-I see you are in a rush to join the rest of your kind."

It was a taunt, one that she clearly recognized- and yet she could not help but fall for it. Bristling, she surged forward, attempting to duck inside Haxus' guard. But as expected of a trained Galra soldier, it was no easy feat. It did not help that she was unarmed.

If she could just get to Hunk's bayard, dangling tauntingly from his belt...

"The only one who will suffer defeat here is you." Allura replied. "You will pay for what you have done."

Haxus merely scoffed, angling his blade at her. She avoided it, pivoting on her heel to land a powerful kick on his side, but he skirted just outside her range. Narrowing her eyes, she clenched her fists, raising them in a defensive stance. The exchange of laser fire had ceased, but she could not afford to tear her attention away from Haxus for long enough to determine the outcome- she would just have to hope it was in their favor.

Haxus struck again, and this time, Allura saw an opening. Grabbing his arm, she used his own momentum to fling him over her shoulder, sending him flying across the bridge. Before he could even react, she rushed him, slamming her knee into his chin with all the force she could muster, just as he was stumbling back onto his feet.

She heard the sound of bones breaking, and she knew full well it wasn't from her.

Stumbling back, Haxus held his jaw in one hand, his grip on his sword momentarily lax. Narrowing his eyes, he let out a ferocious growl, charging at her with seemingly all attempts at strategy abandoned. She braced herself, readying a counterattack-

-only for Haxus to stumble backwards, letting out a loud groan before collapsing in a heap before her. She had to scramble to avoid the Galra lieutenant landing on her.

Turning to look behind her, she met Hunk's eyes. His hands were shaking, and his face pale. "Is he-?"

Kneeling down by Haxus' side, she pressed her hands against his chin. "He's alive. Just unconscious."

Hunk let out a long breath of relief, his grip on the blaster growing lax. Once again, she was reminded of the fact that he was a child- perhaps only a little younger than she. But unlike her, he'd no cause to see violence before becoming a paladin.

It was a heavy destiny that had been laid on his shoulders- him and the rest of the paladins. It wasn't fair, but nothing about this situation was.

"We should restrain him." Allura said. "Coran, the cuffs."

"Certainly, princess." Coran said, scooping up the forgotten cuffs and making his way over towards her. "Are you alright?"

She managed another weak smile. "I'm fine."

It was a bit of a lie- with the adrenaline fading, she felt absolutely exhausted. But they could not afford to let their guard down just yet, not when she could still make out sounds of a battle from the next hall over. Not only was the fight between Sendak and Shiro still ongoing, but from the sound of it, it had escalated.

She needed to get out there as soon as possible. But first...

Retrieving the yellow bayard from Haxus' belt, she handed it back to Hunk. "I believe this is yours."

Hunk swallowed, hesitating to take it for a tick. She just smiled, pushing it a bit deeper into his hand. Chewing on his lip, his fingers wrapped around it, still visibly uncertain. "I- he took Coran hostage. I didn't have any other choice."

Allura merely shook her head. She didn't blame him for choosing to surrender, if that is what he had done. "You handed it over to protect Coran, didn't you?"

Slowly, Hunk nodded. "I should have stopped Sendak from hurting him. I'm sorry."

"There is no need for you to apologize, Hunk." Allura assured him. "You did well. Thank you for protecting Coran."

The paladins clearly would require more training, but in this moment, that hardly mattered. It was to be expected, she supposed- the previous paladins were all trained fighters- and they had been so deca-phoebs before ever setting foot inside a lion. Out of the current batch of paladins, only Keith and Shiro knew how to fight- and only the latter seemed to have ever received any kind of formal training.

"I don't _feel_ like I protected him." Hunk mumbled, staring down at his feet.

"But you did." Allura assured him. "And me. That was an excellent shot."

Hunk's eyes darted up towards her, uncertain and filled with doubt. It was not terribly hard to guess what he was thinking- likely, he was questioning his status as a paladin.

She simply smiled at him. "The yellow lion chose you for a reason, Hunk. It responds to kindness and caring- both traits which you display in abundance. Do not doubt its choice."

She wished she could say more to him, but there was no time. There would always be chances to speak later.

"Coran, the bridge is yours." Allura said.

Coran looked up at her, a deep frown on his face. In that instance, she realized he had seen past her white lies, and knew that her condition was not as optimal as she was putting on. "What about you, princess?"

"Shiro cannot fight Sendak alone." Allura stated. "Someone has to help him."

She could not afford to idly stand by while her paladins fought. It was not what her father would have done, and it was not what she would do.

* * *

Clutching his side, Shiro rolled out of the way to avoid Sendak's arm. Its range was quickly proving to be a problem, and the more he moved around, the more his ribs throbbed. That blast from Hunk's bayard had obviously done more damage than he'd thought.

Still, this wasn't a fight he could afford to lose.

The fight had lead them away from the bridge, but whatever Haggar had done to him, it had made his hearing good enough to tell that the shooting had stopped. He just hoped that was a good sign. Even if it wasn't, he couldn't afford to dwell on it- if he failed to take out Sendak, everything would be for naught.

 _He'd_ been the one to send him after Keith and Katie in the first place. Maybe he hadn't done that of his own free will, but it didn't change the fact that he had. It was only fitting that he be the one to set this right.

"What's the matter?" Sendak mocked. "I seem to recall you having more fight in you."

Shiro grit his teeth, trying not to let his words get to him. Powering up his arm, he put his speed to use- it was the one thing he had over Sendak, but even that wasn't providing him much of an advantage right now. Ducking into Sendak's guard, he angled his arm to strike his chin, only for him to block it with his robotic arm, his own skidding off the surface.

Grunting, Shiro held his ground, digging the claws of his robotic arm into that of Sendak's. Sparks danced off the surface, but the blow wasn't deep enough to do anything more than superficial damage. Sendak smirked, using his other arm to strike down at his head, which Shiro jumped backwards to avoid.

But Sendak didn't give him even a moment to catch his breath. The next thing he knew, his arm was on him again. He was just barely able to avoid it, but he wasn't as lucky the second time- when Sendak yanked it back, he caught him in his grip, dragging him forward in spite of his attempts to break free.

Sendak tightened his grip, causing the pain in his ribs to flare up, a pained grunt escaping despite his best attempts to stop it. He guessed whatever Haggar had done to him to numb his sensitivity to pain had all been in his head- now that he wasn't the Champion anymore, he felt it just as vividly as he'd used to.

"Your humanity makes you weak." Sendak observed. "Haggar was right to banish it."

Gritting his teeth, Shiro glared at him. "At least I'm fighting for the right side now."

Sendak scoffed. "The right side is whoever is the strongest. And there is no stronger side than that of the Galra Empire."

 _Might makes right_ , huh? Figures a commander as ruthless as Sendak would follow that philosophy. He tried not to dwell on the fact that he was certain the Champion would have thought the same. Maybe he was still responsible for his actions, but Matt was right- the Champion _wasn't_ him. Those thoughts and feelings didn't originate from him, they came from what Haggar had planted in him.

The real question was if any of that was still there.

"Yeah, well," Shiro gave him a fierce grin, "-we'll see about that."

Sendak narrowed his eyes, about to question his statement when he got the answer delivered straight to him. The force of the blast was not enough to penetrate his armor, but it was enough to cause him to stumble and release his grip. Shiro didn't hesitate to put some distance between himself and Sendak, but even as he raised his right arm defensively, he couldn't deny that his ribs were beyond just _cracked_ right now.

He drew in a long breath and winced. Yeah, definitely broken.

Sendak turned to glare behind him, angling his body so that he remained in his peripheral vision. "Princess Allura."

"Your lieutenant has been dealt with." Allura spat. "Now you're the only one left."

"You think you can defeat me?" Sendak almost seemed to laugh. "So be it. Victory or death!"

Sendak's arm surged forward towards the princess, leaving her with no choice but to drop her stolen blaster to avoid it. Steeling himself, Shiro ignored the pain in his ribs, lurching forward, summoning the energy blade built into his right arm in a flash. Sendak avoided the burnt of his blow, but his blade cut through more than just his armor. Violet blood was still sizzling against the surface of the blade as he drew it away.

He tried not to freeze at the scent.

This wasn't the first time this had happened either.

Maybe he'd dropped the ball, but Allura hadn't. The princess raced forward, slamming a powerful kick into Sendak's torso, strong enough to send him flying. He couldn't help but blink- the princess was slight, but she was clearly packing a lot of power in that slender frame.

"How are you holding up?" Allura inquired, almost casually.

"I'm still upright." Shiro told her. "I think that's a good sign. You?"

"I have been doing better myself." Allura confessed. "Do you think you can hold out a little longer? With any luck, reinforcements should be on their way."

"I think I can manage." Shiro said.

That said, he was pretty sure they had just made Sendak angry. It didn't take him long to recover from Allura's attack, and when he did, he let out a deep growl. Having to fight against two opponents didn't seem to deter him in the least, but he didn't think it would. He'd spent enough time with the Galra to know that much.

Sendak's arm shot out at them, and though they both dodged it, the limited space of the hallway worked against them. They could try drawing him back to the bridge, where there was more space, but there was too much risk of getting Coran and Hunk mixed up in the fight. They couldn't let him get back there.

He activated his arm again, unable to bring himself to use the blade. The scent of Sendak's blood still clung to his nostrils, kept forcing his thoughts to different, darker times. Maybe getting into a fight before he had time to grapple with his memories as the Champion _wasn't_ such a good idea.

But they had no other choice.

Digging the claws of his robotic arm into the floor of the Castle, Sendak used it to drag his entire body forward, slamming into the ground with a powerful strike that had been meant for him. He didn't doubt that if it had hit, he likely would have crushed his skull, Haggar's enhancements or not.

Allura moved in to strike, but Sendak was ready for her, grabbing her by the wrists and tossing her forward. She skidded back with a pained cry, her head impacting with the wall just outside the entrance to the bridge. Sendak moved to pursue, but Shiro cut him off, blocking his robotic arm with that of his own, though the sheer force of it caused him to skid backwards.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Allura staggered to her feet. The blow to the head had clearly done some damage, beyond just ruining her hairstyle but it didn't seem like she was ready to throw in the towel just yet.

Grunting, Shiro dug in his heels. If he could just find a way to pin down Sendak, then maybe Allura could manage to knock him out. One thing was for sure- the longer this dragged on, the lower their odds of winning got.

Sendak smirked, and Shiro realized too late that he still had a trick up his sleeve. The next thing he knew, he'd been sent flying, skidding all the way back into the bridge. Grunting, he lifted his head, watching as Sendak surged forward, right past the princess, his arm looming above him ready to strike-

-but the blow never made it.

Sticking out right through Sendak's torso was a sword, the red and white blade dyed violet. He stared down at the weapon in sheer disbelief, before pivoting on his heel, a growl ripping itself from his throat. Apparently, having an entire sword piercing his abdomen did _nothing_ to slow him down.

The head shot did.

The first thing he saw after Sendak crumpled was Allura, clutching her stolen blaster. She must have recovered it, using Sendak's brief moment of distraction to her advantage. It fell out of her hands with a clatter as she sunk to the ground, visibly exhausted.

Beyond her was a face that was equal parts familiar and not. But he'd still know it- and the person it belonged to- anywhere.

 _Keith_.


	33. reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly, it dawned on Shiro that he had this all wrong. Keith wasn't afraid of him. He was afraid that he would somehow hate him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh, it's finally here... it's time. Reunion time! I'm so glad to finally be able to write this chapter, but it does also mean that we're super close to the end! I'll probably wrap this story up either in the next chapter, or the one after it. I won't really have a way of knowing for sure until I'm actually writing it, so we'll just have to see! There's definitely some stuff that I still need to address, the least of which is Shiro actually Officially becoming the black paladin, so stick around!

He barely listened to what Pidge had to tell him as he left the Blade ship. All he heard were the words _Shiro_ and _bridge_ , and that had been enough to set him in the right direction.

He knew he wasn't thinking straight- or at all, really. Mostly he was moving on instinct, out of some desperate drive to see if what Pidge had told him was really true- if Shiro really was himself again. That alone wasn't enough to compel him forward- there was also fear. Not fear that Pidge had lied to him- she would never do that, not like this. But fear that Sendak might end Shiro's life before he ever got the chance to talk to him again.

The _real_ him. Not the Champion. He didn't want his last memory of Shiro to be of the Champion.

So he ran.

His brain was pretty much on autopilot by the time he actually reached the bridge, just in time to watch Sendak launch himself at Shiro. He didn't think, just moved- though in hindsight, he would be surprised that what he had reached for wasn't his trusty knife, but the red bayard, the very thing that he had never managed to get working.

Until now.

Honestly? He didn't even register that it had changed form, much less that he had _thrown it_ until Sendak had whirled around, growling fury towards him. But he wasn't focused on that- he was too fixated on the red and white blade that stuck out from his chest, tainted with violet blood.

It wasn't like him to freeze up during a battle, but he did just that.

Thankfully, where he froze, Allura didn't. His thoughts slowly started to come back to him as he watched Sendak collapse, a hole blown clean open in his head, traces of his brain splattered on the deck of the bridge. At the edge of his hearing, he could hear Hunk desperately try to hold back his own vomit, but the sight didn't faze him in the least.

He'd seen too much- _done_ too much- for it to.

It also helped that again, his focus was pushed elsewhere. With Sendak's hulking body no longer blocking the view, he could see him. Not the Champion, but _Shiro_.

All he needed to tell was to look in his eyes.

Across the bridge, Shiro's eyes met those of his own. For a second, he just stood there, totally frozen in place- he was sure Pidge had tried to tell him something more specific about Shiro, but he couldn't remember what it was. Probably because he hadn't been paying attention, but still.

Slowly- painfully slowly, clutching his right side all the while- Shiro rose to his feet. He didn't once break eye contact with him the entire time, nor did he.

"... _Keith_?"

Shiro's voice was barely above that of a whisper, but even so, he could hear it. It was impossible for him not to, with how good his hearing had gotten- and that knowledge was what snapped him back to reality. All of a sudden, it dawned on him that while he was staring into Shiro's eyes as they should be- a gentle, soft gray, instead of the cold steel of the Champion's- the same couldn't be said for him.

This entire time, the eyes Shiro had been staring back into were those of a Galra.

He took a step back, and then another- and then, without thinking about it, he sprinted away from the bridge, as fast as his legs could carry him.

He couldn't- he couldn't do this. He couldn't face Shiro like this. Sure, Matt had assured him that Shiro would be fine with the fact that he was half-Galra, and fine with the fact that he looked a lot more like it than he used to. But that was _before_ they had found out just what the Galra had done to him. It was bad enough that his right arm would always serve as a permanent reminder of his days as the Champion, he didn't need to look into his face and constantly be reminded of it too.

Having to look in the mirror every day and see the face of the enemy was bad enough.

In hindsight, he would have realized that when Shiro spoke his name, it was with a trace of _hope_ in it. But right now?

Right now, all he could think about was the fact that his brother was going to hate him.

* * *

"Wait, Keith-!"

Wincing, Shiro pressed a hand against his side. All he wanted to do was run after Keith, to tell him it was okay, but every step was agony. He wasn't about to go anywhere soon.

All he could do was watch his brother's back disappear further into the Castleship. It was broader than he remembered- which shouldn't have come as a surprise. It had been four... no, maybe _five_ years now since he had seen him last. Things were bound to have changed between now and then.

Which still didn't explain why he looked so _Galra_.

He was dimly aware of Allura resting a hand against his shoulder. She looked as if she were struggling just to stay upright, but still managed to give him a reassuring smile. "He will be alright. Just give him time."

He wanted to ask. She had to know. But instead, he just swallowed, nodding his head.

If he wanted to hear it from anyone, then he wanted it to be from Keith.

"Princess, are you alright?" Coran asked, making his way toward her side.

"I am fine, Coran." Allura said weakly. "But we need to move the Castle, or risk Haggar sending reinforcements."

"Normally I would agree, princess, but you're in no condition to-"

Allura just shook her head, cutting him off. "I can manage at least one wormhole jump."

Coran frowned, before heaving a sigh. "At least let me give you a hand."

She cast the man a grateful smile. "I would appreciate it. That last blow to the head seems to have left me just a touch disorientated."

He watched as Coran helped her to the central platform, helping to brace her in place as she rested her hands on the pillars that were fixed there. She drew in a ragged breath, closing her eyes, before he felt the rumble of the ship lifting off from the ground.

The sight of the wormhole stirred a memory in him- one of the Champion's. He had watched one form from the deck of Haggar's ship, as the lions of Voltron made their retreat through it. Haggar had been able to track its energy then, but she wasn't here now to do so. Once they left Arus, they would probably be safe.

At least, for awhile.

No sooner than had they slipped through the wormhole, did Allura collapse in Coran's arms. For a brief moment, he thought she had slipped into unconsciousness, before she weakly turned his head, gazing in his direction.

"Well," she said, "-it would seem we are both in need of some time in a healing pod."

In spite of himself, Shiro gave her a weak grin. "I've definitely been better."

"Right then," Coran nodded, "-let's take care of that. I'd say you two have more than earned your rest."

Biting down on his lip, Shiro's gaze darted behind him. The sword that had pierced through Sendak had transformed, returning to a state which his memories informed him was a _bayard_. The _red_ bayard, specifically- _Keith's_ bayard.

He'd put him through the ringer, and he had saved him for a second time.

"Are you sure he'll-?"

"I am quite certain Pidge has already gone to find him." Allura said. "I am sure by the time we have both recovered, he will be more than willing to speak with you."

Shiro swallowed, nodding his head. He hoped so. They had so much to talk about.

But he was _alive_ , Shiro caught himself thinking. Keith was _alive_.

For so long, he'd had to endure everyone telling him that he was dead. That he was lost somewhere out in the desert, his remains likely torn apart by wild animals until there was nothing left to be found but bones. Or well... nobody had actually ever told him that much to his face- nobody he knew was _that_ much of an asshole, not even Admiral Sanda. But the implication had always been there.

That they were right, and he was wrong. That he was _crazy_ for clinging to the belief that Keith could still be alive.

But he was _right_. Keith was alive.

Alive, and a paladin of Voltron. Shiro couldn't be more proud.

"Hunk, do you think you could give me a hand?" Coran asked. "Provided you're done with your little gastrointestinal upset, that is."

Hunk groaned, very purposefully avoiding looking at Sendak- and only now did Shiro notice the way his brains had splattered all over his desk. The sight churned his stomach, and he had to force himself to look away- he couldn't blame Hunk for losing his lunch at the sight.

He was half glad _he_ nearly did.

"Yeah," Hunk said weakly, "-yeah, I think I'm empty. What do you need?"

"Help me get Allura and Shiro down to the med bay." Coran told him. "I'd like to get you checked out while I'm down there as well."

"Mm, yeah, probably a good idea. I don't think I've got anything worse than a few bruises, but better safe than sorry." Hunk agreed, before pausing, his gaze darting behind him. "But wait- what about Haxus? Are we just gonna leave him here on the bridge, alone? That doesn't seem safe, even if he _is_ handcuffed."

"I'll take care of Haxus." Matt's voice caught his attention, and he turned his head, catching sight of him at the entrance to the bridge. "Just tell me where to take him."

"There's a cryochamber on the lower deck." Allura informed him. "We will keep him there for the time being."

"Also," Allura frowned, crinkling her nose, "-why are you so dirty?"

Matt just shrugged. "I was in the vents. You're welcome for disabling Haxus' command module, by the way."

Allura merely clicked her tongue. "Ah. I suppose they will need a good cleaning then, when we have the chance. Coran?"

"I'll be sure to add that to my to do list!" Coran said. "But first, let's get the two of you in a pod. I'm worried about that head injury of yours, princess, and the way Shiro's holding his side doesn't look good."

"Doesn't feel too good either." Shiro mumbled.

Part of him was amazed at how easily Coran and Hunk seemed to be accepting his presence here- even if Hunk _did_ seem to nervously shoot him a glance from time to time. Given how their first meeting had gone, he couldn't exactly blame him. He would have thought that there would have been more resistance to just... bringing him into the fold like this.

Whatever Keith had told them about him, it must have really been something.

Which was all the more reason for him to have a good, long talk with him. They had so much to catch up on- and there was so much that needed to be said. But Coran was right- the only reason he'd been holding up for this long was because of the adrenaline, and even that was starting to wear off. He probably _could_ use some time in a healing pod.

But after that? After that, he and Keith would have a talk.

* * *

"You ran away."

Keith grumbled, burying his face deeper into his arms. It wasn't like he didn't expect Pidge to come looking for him- he just hadn't expected her to find him so fast.

"Shut up." Keith mumbled. "I panicked."

"You panicked." Pidge stated flatly. "You've fought off evil aliens, pulled off countless impossible stunts, and even escaped a nigh-impenetrable space fortress. But one sight of Shiro, and you panic."

Lifting his head, Keith glared at her. "And you wouldn't?"

Pidge hummed, taking a seat next to him. "No, you're right. I probably would too."

Keith huffed, staring at his hands. He thought he had gotten used to their appearance, like his fingers alone had been dipped in purple paint, but right now they just looked downright alien to him. Maybe it was just because Shiro had never seen him like this- at least, not as himself.

But he'd still recognized him.

That... should have encouraged him. It had been _years_ since they had seen each other, and he knew just how different he had to look. But in spite of the changes wrought by both experimentation and time alike, he'd still looked at him, and seen Keith.

He just didn't know if he'd looked at him and seen his _brother_.

He did. When he looked at Shiro, that was all he saw. Not the Champion. Not Haggar's weapon, the one who had snapped his wrist and broken his ribs. Just... Shiro.

"I know you and Matt said it would be fine, but..." Keith trailed off, shaking his head. "I- I'm _scared_ , Pidge."

Ducking his head, Keith bit his lip. He wasn't used to being this open to people, this _vulnerable_. He was _terrified_ by the idea that Shiro might hate him, but normally, he wouldn't admit that so openly. But to Pidge... to Pidge, he felt like he could be at least a little more open.

Maybe she and Matt were on to something when they talked about him like he was part of the family. That would be... that would be nice, he thought.

By the time he met Shiro, he had been through so many different foster families, that he couldn't even dream of having a family to call his own again. He'd proved him wrong, but then he had been taken, his entire world turned upside down- and something like a family became a distant dream again. When he met Pidge...

...well, he didn't want to get his hopes up. Not again. He couldn't go through that again.

"I don't think Shiro is going to hate you, Keith." Pidge told him.

"You don't know that." Keith said.

"No." Pidge admitted. "But I doubt it."

Looking up at her, he frowned, wondering if she had some kind of basis for that. She sounded so sure of herself that part of him hoped she did. "Did he say anything? You spoke to him, right?"

"Well... he didn't _say_ anything about you specifically." Pidge admitted. "Probably because his memories hadn't all quite caught up yet. But just because he didn't say anything about it, doesn't mean it's not true."

"But you don't know for sure." Keith said.

"No." Pidge shook her head. "But I do know that the Shiro my brother would always tell me about isn't the type of person who would hate you just because you're part-Galra."

Letting out a huff, Keith rested his head against the wall. "People change."

"Yeah, but they don't change _that_ much." Pidge said, before pausing, almost seeming to reconsider. "I mean, not unless brainwashing is involved."

In spite of himself, Keith snorted. "So... where is he now?"

"According to Matt, both Shiro and Allura are in healing pods." Pidge told him. "Coran says they'll probably be in there for at least half a day, but that they should be fine. The fight against Sendak really took a lot out of them."

Keith winced. He couldn't help but wonder if he had a part in that- at least, in terms of Shiro's injuries. It didn't feel like he'd been in the pod that long before Sendak's attack, but then again, these past few days had been so filled with activity that his sense of time had gone a bit haywire. Not being able to sleep just ended up making the days blur into each other- it just felt like it had been one _really_ long day, rather than several.

"Come on," Pidge said, getting to her feet, extending a hand to him, "-it's been a long day. We should probably try and get some sleep."

Keith took it, letting her haul him to his feet. "I can't, you know."

Pidge blinked, looking up at him. "Can't what?"

"Sleep." Keith confessed.

"Oh." Pidge's face fell. "You can't- no wonder you look so exhausted all the time. How are you even _alive_?"

Keith just shrugged. He honestly didn't have an answer to that. He figured it had to be because of something Haggar had done to him, but the list was so long that he couldn't even begin to pinpoint just what it was. "Sheer willpower?"

"You really ought to have Coran check you out." Pidge told him. "Who knows? Maybe he can even help. He seems to know all sorts of weird shit."

"Thanks," Keith said, "-I'll think about it."

"Do you actually mean that this time?" Pidge asked, linking her hands behind her back.

Keith glared at her, but he couldn't even say anything back to that. She had a point.

"I told you about it, didn't I?" Keith pointed out. "You can even hold me to it if you want."

Pidge tilted her head, seeming to consider it. "Maybe I will. But first, let's get out of this armor. I feel like I've been wearing it non-stop since yesterday."

That he couldn't agree more with. He still didn't feel totally at home in his paladin armor- he'd been trying, but he couldn't totally shake the feeling that he didn't deserve this. Even _if_ he had been able to get his bayard to work, he wasn't even sure if that was something he could even replicate.

Still... it _had_ worked. Maybe he wasn't as broken as he thought he was.

* * *

As the chill of the healing pod slowly seeped from his bones, Shiro gradually came back to awareness.

The first thing he noticed was someone's steadying hand on his shoulder, keeping him upright. Looking up, he met Matt's eyes. There was a hint of mirth in that smile of his, though part of him was too busy wondering just where he had gotten that scar on his cheek from to focus on it. He couldn't even remember where _he'd_ gotten the one on _his_ face.

"Look who's finally up." Matt cracked.

Shiro blinked, still feeling a bit groggy. "The princess...?"

"My healing cycle ended about a varga ago." Allura said. Looking up, he met her gaze. "Your injuries required slightly longer to heal. How do you feel?"

Shiro frowned, mulling the question over. Honestly? He felt better than he had in a long time. Probably since before the Kerberos mission- maybe even longer than that, now that his body was free of the disease that had ravaged it for so long. At least the Galra had done one good thing.

"I feel... fine. _Great_ , actually." Shiro admitted. "How long has it-?"

"About half a day." Pidge supplied. Looking over towards her, he found her leaning against one of the other healing pods, a faint smile on her face. "Good to see you back on your feet."

"Glad to _be_ back on my feet." Shiro told her. "How's the situation?"

"For now, everything is fine." Allura told him. "It seems we were able to make a clean break from Arus. Just to be safe, I wormholed us to a different location shortly after I awoke."

" _Against_ my recommendations." Coran grumbled.

Shiro faintly laughed, his eyes scanning the room. Hanging a bit more towards the back were Hunk and another young man- one who he vaguely recognized as being one of the cadets from the Garrison. Probably the blue paladin. There was no sign of Ulaz, or anyone who looked like they could be Thace- and he couldn't find any sign of Keith.

His face fell a bit at that. Maybe he wasn't ready to face him just yet.

"So Haggar's not following us." Shiro said.

"Looks like we gave her the slip!" Coran chirped.

"I made sure to check your arm for any tracking devices." Pidge said. He blinked, staring down at his right arm- that hadn't even occurred to him. "Luckily, it doesn't look like there are any in there. I _did_ have to kill some pretty nasty code that was tucked away in it though, but it should be fine now."

Huh. Somehow that didn't surprise him. Clenching his right hand into a fist, he drew in a deep breath. Guess he was just going to have to get used to it.

"Thanks." Shiro said, before turning his gaze towards the rest of his body. The suit that Coran had given him to wear in the cryopod was starting to itch. "I don't suppose you have any clothes I can borrow? I'm not exactly wild about the idea of putting on Galra armor again."

"Oh, no worries there." Coran said, motioning towards a not insubstantial pile strewn about a tabletop. "I went through our whole storehouse, looking for clothes that might fit. Pick anything you like!"

Shiro gave the Altean a weak smile, before making his way over towards the pile of clothing. Carefully picking through it, he managed to find a few articles he liked. There was nothing quite like his favorite leather jacket, the one that he had left behind on Earth. He wondered what had happened to it. Maybe Adam had it.

"We'll give you a bit of privacy so you can change." Allura said. "Feel free to take all the time you like."

Looking back towards her, Shiro nodded his head. "Thanks."

Allura briefly met his eyes, before she and the rest of the paladins ducked out of the room. He waited until the door shut behind them before he released the breath he was holding, his shoulders slumping. Honestly, he had been hoping to see Keith, but he could understand if he wasn't ready to deal with him just yet.

He _had_ tried to kill him.

Changing out of the cryosuit and putting on new clothes felt strange. His body had gotten so used to wearing armor, that he almost felt strange now that he _wasn't_ wearing it.

But at the same time... he felt more like himself than he had felt in a long time. Some of his memories were still pretty hazy, but for the most part, his time as the Champion was all starting to come back to him. It was strange, having memories that he wasn't entirely a part of- just his body, being used like a living marionette by an evil space witch.

And here he thought Keith and Adam were the only ones who could manipulate him into doing what they wanted.

"You know... I have something for you."

Shiro froze, for a second, nearly convinced he had imagined the voice. Slowly turning around, he came face to face with Keith, his brother hovering at the opposite end of the room, almost like he was waiting for an invitation.

He was taller than he remembered. His voice was deeper too. His hairstyle was still exactly the same, he noted with no small degree of fondness- that, and his draw towards red jackets. The one he had on was definitely new, but it had been five years. He was bound to get a new wardrobe between now and then.

"Keith." Shiro breathed. "It is you."

For a split second, his eyes peeked out from underneath his bangs, before disappearing just as quickly underneath them. It hadn't been long- just enough for him to get a good look at them, confirming that what he'd seen on the bridge hadn't been an illusion. His pupils were gone, replaced by solid Galra yellow.

"Yeah." He said weakly. "It's me."

Turning on his heel, his new boots squeaking slightly against the floor, Shiro rapidly closed the distance between them. Maybe a bit _too_ rapidly, causing Keith to flinch and shrink back- at which point, he came to a complete stop. The last thing he wanted to do was make Keith feel trapped or uncomfortable.

He had hurt him. He couldn't blame him in the least if he was afraid of him now.

"You... said you had something for me?" Shiro asked.

Slowly, Keith nodded, extending his arms. There was a black vest in it, one that he vaguely recognized, but couldn't place. "It... used to be my father's. I brought it back from Earth."

Shiro's head snapped up, staring at him with wide eyes. Now he recognized it- he'd seen it in the few pictures Keith had of him with his father.

"Are you sure?" Shiro asked. "It has to be important to you."

Keith just nodded. "I want you to have it. If- if you want it, I mean. You don't _have_ to take it. I'd get it if you didn't."

Suddenly, it dawned on Shiro that he had this all wrong. Keith wasn't afraid of _him_. He was afraid that he would somehow hate him.

No. Never. Even if taking the vest from him revealed purple, clawed fingers. Even if Keith's face, when he finally looked up at him, was spotted with purple by the eyes, sharp teeth showing as his mouth formed a small _o_ of surprise.

Even if he was somehow Galra.

"I'll take good care of it." Shiro promised. "Thank you."

For a long time, Keith just stood there, staring at him. Then all at once, he closed the gap between them, almost seeming to bury his face in his chest. Those same clawed fingers dug into the fabric of his borrowed shirt, and he could feel him tremble as he carefully wrapped him in an embrace.

"I thought," Keith choked out, "-I thought I'd never see you again."

"I never gave up on you." Shiro told him, resting his chin on Keith's head. His hair was soft, softer than he remembered it being. "Everyone tried to say you were dead."

"Not dead." Keith mumbled. "Just abducted by aliens."

"A common mistake." Shiro joked.

He swore Keith laughed. "They think _you're_ dead too. The same with Matt and his dad."

Shiro blinked. And here he'd just been trying to crack a joke to lighten the mood. "Apparently, a _very_ common mistake."

Keith's shoulders trembled, but this time, it was just because he was laughing so hard. He felt something in his own chest ease at the sound of it, muffled as it was.

"Your sense of humor still sucks." Keith muttered.

"Hey, you're the one who was laughing." Shiro pointed out.

"That's because my sense of humor sucks too." Keith told him, pulling away from him a little, just enough so that his head wasn't buried in his chest anymore. "Seeing as I picked it up from you."

For some reason, he thought his eyes would be difficult to read, but he could make out the hope in them just as clear as day. _Please don't hate me_ , they silently said.

As if he ever could.

"So... aliens, huh?" Shiro asked.

"Aliens." Keith echoed. "I guess I should probably tell you I'm actually half-Galra."

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that part." Shiro said. He still didn't understand how, but it was pretty clear that Keith had to have at least _some_ Galra blood in his veins to look the way he did now. "Did Haggar-?"

Keith swallowed, ducking his head. He pushed away a bit, and he complied, releasing him slowly from his embrace, even though he was almost loathe to do so. But he knew Keith well enough to know when he needed a little space. "She did a lot of things to me."

"Yeah, me too." Shiro said, clenching his right fist. "How much do you think I can bench press with this arm alone? Be honest."

It got a chuckle out of Keith, which was exactly what he was aiming for. "Maybe enough to finally get a steady boyfriend."

"Bold of you to assume I haven't already gotten one while you were away." Shiro observed, quirking a brow. "You remember Adam?"

Keith tilted his head. "The flight instructor that transferred in from the west coast? Why?"

"Well, we're engaged." Shiro told him, before frowning. "Or we _were_ , I guess, before I got abducted by aliens and was apparently declared dead."

Keith finally cracked a smile, though he didn't miss the tinge of regret it had. "Sucks, doesn't it?"

Shiro's shoulders slumped. He wanted to believe that Adam was still waiting for him back on Earth, but he wouldn't blame him if he'd moved on. "Yeah, it does."

Keith lapsed into silence, his eyes once more vanishing underneath his bangs. Shiro just let him be, carefully pulling on the vest Keith had given him, zipping it up. He was surprised by how well it fit. It wasn't quite like his old leather jacket, but it would do just fine.

"This ship has an observation deck." Keith said suddenly. "It's not quite the same as looking at the stars from the ground, but if you want to...?"

Shiro just smiled. For all the terrible things that had happened to him, and in spite of all the terrible things he'd been made to do, at least he had his baby brother back.

"I'd love to."

* * *

They must have sat there for hours, on the observation deck, just talking. Shiro told him everything that had transpired on Earth since he had disappeared, and he told him everything that he had been doing since he'd crash landed on Earth and ended up in Pidge's backyard.

They didn't touch on Haggar. On what she had done to them both. Not yet.

They told each other stories- anything that came to mind. Shiro told him the story about how he had asked Adam to marry him. He hadn't expected it to be funny, but it turned out that everything had gone hilariously wrong. He told him about the time he and Pidge accidentally ended up kidnapping a duke while trying to hide out from the Galra one time.

It felt almost like no time had passed at all. If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend that they were on the roof of the Galaxy Garrison, chatting about how the day had gone.

"So... did you end up getting a pardon?" Shiro asked.

"No." Keith said. "Pidge and I can never go back to that planet ever again."

"That's... going to be a problem if we ever have to liberate them from the Galra." Shiro observed.

"Let's just hope we don't have to." Keith said. "They seemed pretty tough. I'm sure they'll be fine."

Shiro just shook his head. "I can't believe you and Katie became _space pirates_."

In spite of himself, Keith smirked. "You had to bail me out of juvie for stealing your car, and you're surprised I became a space pirate?"

"Okay, that's a fair point." Shiro admitted. "Still- _Katie_?"

"Hey, by the time we met, she had already hacked into the Garrison's probes." Keith said. "I don't appreciate your accusations of being a bad influence. She was like that when I got her."

"Fair enough." Shiro said. "So... why space piracy?"

Keith just shrugged. "It sounded like a good way to get back at the Galra while searching for the information Pidge needed. Plus, I figured if she found her family, maybe we'd find you."

"So you were looking for me." Shiro said.

Looking away from him, Keith fixed his gaze out the window. His reflection stared back at him, but for once, he felt almost at ease with the face he saw. All of his fears of Shiro rejecting him had amounted to nothing- it had barely even been an issue.

Now he just felt bad for ever thinking it could even be a possibility.

"Well... yeah." Keith admitted. "When I learned about the Kerberos mission from Pidge, and learned that you were a part of it... I didn't know what to think. All this time, I thought you were safe on Earth, but you were... you were on Central Command, with me."

"I heard Haggar had another prisoner that she was experimenting on." He added. "I didn't think it was you."

"I heard that too. Or at least, something pretty close to it." Shiro said. "I'd heard that one of her personal prisoners had escaped. I didn't think that was you either."

Keith nodded. "Thace helped me."

"He's with the Galra resistance, right?" Shiro asked. "The Blade of Marmora?"

"Yeah." Keith said. "I think- I think my mom might have been a part of them too."

Shiro blinked, surprise washing over his features. "Your mom? So you're..."

"Haggar didn't make me half Galra." Keith told him. "She just made me look like it."

Shiro took a second to process the information. He didn't blame him. Even if he hadn't gone through what he had at the Galra's hands, the fact that he was half-alien at all would have been revelation enough. He knew it had been for him, even if it had been accompanied by bouts of self-loathing at times.

He was... starting to get better about that. _Starting_.

"If it helps," Shiro said, "-I'm not sure if _I'm_ one hundred percent human anymore either."

Keith stared at him, horrified. He knew exactly what Haggar was like, but for some reason, he still hadn't thought that she would go that far. "You think she spliced your DNA?"

"I don't know." Shiro admitted. "I just know that I'm a lot stronger than I used to be. Not to mention sturdier. And my _eyesight_..."

He shook his head. "The Castle's lights are kind of bright, aren't they?"

Keith just snorted, folding his arms in front of him. "Why do you think I like the observation deck so much? It's one of the few places on this ship that's actually _dark_."

They lapsed into silence, but it wasn't a heavy one. It felt... almost normal, Keith thought. Like nothing had changed.

Maybe nothing had. At least... nothing that actually mattered.

"So," Shiro began, "-your mom."

"My mom." Keith echoed. "I don't know who she is exactly. I think Thace and Ulaz might know, but I haven't had the chance to ask them yet. I'm not sure if I even _want_ to know."

"Why not?" Shiro asked, looking over towards him.

Staring down at his hands, Keith narrowed his eyes. "She _left_ me. Me and my dad. What if she just never wanted me?"

Shiro frowned. "Do you really think your dad would have fallen in love with someone like that?"

Looking up, Keith bit his lip, mulling it over. He didn't think so. His dad was the most caring, compassionate person he'd ever known- and that was _including_ Shiro. He didn't think he could fall for someone who was any less. "I don't know. I don't want to think he could have, but..."

Carefully, Shiro rested a hand on his shoulder- his _human_ hand. Even if it had been the arm Haggar had built for him, he wouldn't have objected. Where the Champion had been cruel, Shiro was gentle- exactly the way he remembered him. "You don't have to ask right away. You can do this at your own pace, Keith."

"I know, it's just... I've spent my whole life _not knowing_." Keith said. "And we're in the middle of a _war_. I don't want to end up waiting until its too late."

"I don't think this is something that has an easy answer." Shiro admitted. "But whatever you decide on, I'm here for you. I want you to know that."

Keith swallowed, meeting Shiro's eyes. The amount of warmth he found there was almost enough to make him want to avert his eyes, but he didn't. "Thanks."

"I'm just sorry I couldn't have found you sooner." Shiro said.

"It's okay." Keith told him. "I don't think anyone would have thought to check deep space."

"Probably not." Shiro cracked a smile. "But I'm still sorry you had to go through that."

From anyone else, it would have just sounded like pretty, shallow words. But from Shiro... from Shiro, there was a depth to it. He knew exactly what it was like, to be used harshly by Haggar, to be transformed into something horrible.

In some ways, he'd actually had it _worse_. At least he'd _kept_ his mind- Shiro had been forced to become some _one_ different, on top of becoming some _thing_ different.

"Me too." Keith said. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault." Shiro shook his head. "It's Haggar's."

"I-" Keith began, clenching his fists, "-she _knew_ , Shiro. It was my fault she chose you."

He didn't have to specify just _what_ she knew. Shiro had been through the same things he had. He didn't have to ask to know that Haggar had rooted around in his head. Of course she had- his time as the Champion was evidence enough of that.

"It's still not your fault." Shiro insisted, his grip on his shoulder becoming a bit tighter. But it wasn't painful- just reassuring. " _Haggar_ is the one who chose to do all of this. If there's anyone to blame in this scenario, it's her. You did nothing wrong."

Swallowing, Keith looked up. He'd been told that before, but somehow hearing it from Shiro felt like there was a dam breaking inside of him, like he could finally risk actually _believing_ it. He didn't have the capacity to cry anymore, but if he did, he knew he would have probably teared up.

So instead, he just did the next best thing- throw his arms around him and bury his face in his chest.

"You know," Shiro affectionately chuckled, "-I don't remember you being this clingy."

"Shut up." Keith mumbled, his words half lost in his chest. "It's been five years. I'm making up for lost time."

Shiro just chuckled again, before he pulled him into an embrace of his own. "I missed you too, Keith."

He just hummed, closing his eyes, taking a long whiff of Shiro's scent. It was calming, the same way it had been when he was just a scrappy foster kid that nobody wanted to deal with. He'd never told him this, but the way Shiro smelled had always reminded him of his father. It was part of why he had been willing to trust him.

It hadn't changed.

"I'm sorry too." Shiro told him, resting a gentle hand on his head. "I hurt you."

Keith just shook his head. "Not your fault. Haggar's."

"She really did a number on us, huh?" Shiro asked.

"She can get fucked." Keith muttered.

"Keith!" Shiro sputtered. "Language!"

Keith peered up at him, half-glaring at him. Suddenly he understood how Pidge felt. "I'm eighteen now, Shiro. I can swear as much as I want."

Shiro opened his mouth to say something, before quickly shutting it. "Oh god, you _are_ eighteen. No wonder you got so big."

He stared at him suspiciously. "Are you making fun of me?"

Shiro blinked. "Wha- Keith, why would I be making fun of you?"

"Because I'm part Galra." Keith pointed out, pulling away just enough to get a bit of distance, but not quite releasing Shiro from his embrace just yet. "Even _Lance_ is taller than me, and he's a year younger than I am."

"Lance is the blue paladin, right?" Shiro asked, to which he nodded. He'd kind of forgotten that Shiro hadn't totally been caught up to speed on everything just yet. There hadn't been time. "Katie is one thing, but you're definitely going to have to tell me the story of how two Galaxy Garrison cadets ended up this far out in space."

"Well," Keith told him, a faint grin on his face, "-it all started when we stole the blue lion from the Garrison."

"You _what_."


End file.
